Pakistan Railways hit by over Rs110m scandal of fake electricity bills

A major financial irregularity in Pakistan Railways has come to light which shows over Rs110 million in bogus electricity payments were made following the allotment of fake residential quarters.

According to an inquiry report obtained by Express News, the Railways Vigilance Directorate has confirmed that Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) issued inflated and unjustified electricity bills for three residential colonies of Railways in 2023.

The report, completed by the Director General Vigilance and forwarded to Chief Executive Officer Pakistan Railways Aamir Ali Baloch, stated that although LESCO had installed individual meters in each quarter, the company continued to dispatch consolidated collective bills to the Railways administration.

These included excessive fixed charges and adjustments that investigators said led to over Rs110 million being charged fraudulently.

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The inquiry further revealed that the Railway Workshops Division’s Electrical Department made payments to LESCO without conducting any verification, checks or investigation. Officials responsible for reviewing the bills allegedly processed the payments blindly, causing substantial financial loss to the department.

The report cited negligence on the part of the Divisional Electrical Engineer (Works), the Senior Electrical Engineer (Workshops) and the wireman, noting that their failure to perform basic oversight facilitated the bogus payments.

It also pointed out that many of the officers involved have been occupying the same positions for several years, despite the Railways’ rotation policy, which was not implemented.

The Vigilance Directorate has recommended strict departmental action against the responsible officers for dereliction of duty and urged that the rotation policy be enforced immediately to prevent similar cases in future.