Overbilling of over Rs8b unearthed

ISLAMABAD:

Auditors on Thursday told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that power distribution companies had extracted more than Rs8 billion in revenue through overbilling.

The apex parliamentary committee met under the interim chairmanship of Shahida Akhtar Ali to review audit objections pertaining to the Power Division for the financial year 2022-23.

Audit officials told the committee that consumers were charged for units they did not consume, causing losses exceeding Rs8bn. They said overbilling was detected on more than a thousand feeders across multiple DISCOs.

The officials identified total financial irregularities amounting to Rs8,727 billion across the division. They said more than Rs9.34 billion had already been recovered.

According to the audit findings, four DISCOs had issued unauthorised refunds worth Rs9.14 billion to consumers. Auditors found that 293,572 active consumers received slab or tariff relief between 2018 and 2023, even though such relief was meant only for disconnected users.

They added that meter readers often did not visit sites to record actual readings.

The Power Division secretary told the committee that much of the required documentation had not been available during the audit.