Double June bills stun protected consumers

Govt’s reforms lead to widespread inflated electricity bills

LAHORE:

Over 0.3 million power consumers moved out of the protected category and had to pay inflated electricity bills in the month of June due to a new billing system introduced by distribution companies (DISCOs) on the orders of the Ministry of Energy.

According to official documents seen by The Express Tribune, the Ministry of Energy, in a letter dated March 27, directed DISCOs to introduce a Pro-Rata Billing Mechanism.

Ironically, the new mechanism was introduced with the aim of protecting lower-usage consumers who were charged inflated bills due to delayed meter reading.

“In order to protect the rights of consumers and to restrain delayed meter readings leading to inflated bills, a mechanism is proposed for pro-rata billing. In instances where the billing month exceeds calendar month days due to gazetted/public holidays, religious celebrations, or climatic hazards, consumers should be billed on a pro-rata basis for the number of days in a calendar month,” the letter said.

However, this new system resulted in charging additional units from consumers to complete the 30-day billing cycle, leading to millions of consumers receiving average bills. Due to the additional units charged in the bills, 326,350 protected consumers had to pay double bills.

Consumers in the protected category receive certain protections or benefits, such as subsidized rates or exemptions from price increases. These protections are often put in place to support low-income households or vulnerable groups, ensuring they can afford essential services like electricity.

With the new system in place, 66,447 consumers of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), 63,265 of the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco), 62,765 of the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco), 49,753 of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), and 27,654 of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) moved out of the protected category.

Some 26,800 consumers of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco), 11,631 of the Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company (Tesco), 11,129 of the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco), 6,018 of the Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco), and 827 consumers of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO)—who earlier fell under the protected category—were also overbilled.

According to sources, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had expressed concerns over the implementation of the new billing mechanism, but consultants associated with the Power Planning and Monitoring Company (PPMC) pressured DISCOs to implement the system immediately.

Despite resistance from DISCOs, the pro-rata system was launched with the assistance of the Pakistan Information Technology Company (PITC). Sources indicate that officers working as consultants in the PPMC retired as GMs from the power sector ten years ago.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday decided to take strict action against the officials and other employees involved in charging excess units in electricity bills during a meeting regarding reforms in the power sector and the solarisation process.

According to a press release issued by the PM Office Media Wing, Shehbaz Sharif directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to identify such officials and employees so they could be suspended and face further strict action.

“They [these officials and employees] are enemies of the people,” PM Shehbaz noted. “This criminal act [of charging excessive units] will not be tolerated at any cost,” he added.

The prime minister said that exemplary punishment should be given to those officials who had included extra units in the monthly bills of consumers with their anti-public attitude, besides unmasking those who had sent extra units to the protected consumers category, using less than 200 units per month.

Meanwhile, in response to a surge of complaints about overbilling, Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday also ordered immediate legal action against the responsible officers and staff.

Naqvi issued strict directives to all directors of the FIA to promptly address the grievances of consumers who use up to 200 units of electricity, reported APP.

The minister took exception to the practice of categorizing protected consumers as non-protected, labeling it as a criminal act that will not be tolerated. He instructed the FIA to thoroughly review the situation and take action against those at fault without any bias, based on the facts.

He reiterated that adding protected consumers to the list of non-protected consumers is unacceptable under any circumstances. He said that the overbilling has put an additional burden of millions of rupees on consumers, and protected consumers who are already facing difficulties have been further affected.

“Overbilling complaints and injustices faced by protected consumers must be addressed immediately,” he said.