Nonpayment of bills: NAB to chase influential electricity defaulters

Government hopes to recover anywhere between Rs20 and Rs50 billion.

ISLAMABAD:

The water and power ministry has handed over a list of 360 defaulters to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to recover an amount of Rs150 billion in unpaid bills.

The government hoped that it would be able to recover anywhere between Rs20 and Rs50 billion immediately from the ‘influential’ defaulters after NAB swung into action, according to sources.

However, additional secretary in the ministry Arshad Mirza, when contacted by The Express Tribune, denied handing over a list of defaulters to NAB, adding that the ministry was still finalising the list.

Currently only private sector defaulters were being supplied power despite a failure to pay bills amounting to Rs161 billion. According to officials, there were over 234,000 defaulters across the country.

“The amount against private sector running defaulters stood at Rs135 billion in June 2012. It has jumped up to Rs161 billion now, leading to a major problem of circular debt,” a source said, adding that private sector “running defaulters” in Balochistan owed Rs61 billion to power distribution companies.

The source went on to add that the recovery rate of power distribution companies had also marginally declined. The companies recovered Rs386 billion, which amounts to 85% of total billing, in July 2012 to January 2013. The recovery rate in 2011-12 was 86% and 87% in 2010-11.

Meanwhile, a meeting was held here on Wednesday between Water and Power Minister Ch Ahmed Mukhtar and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Admiral Fasih Bukhari to finalise the modalities of the recovery drive against defaulters, according to a statement issued by Ministry of Water and Power.

Mukhtar said that hurdles in the recovery drive were creating problems for the power sector, while Bukhari assured that strict action would be taken against defaulters.

The ministry decided that a complete list of defaulters would be handed over to NAB by March 11. Furthermore, notices would be issued to defaulters for payment within 30 days and legal procedure would be initiated against them upon failure of payments. It was also decided that names of defaulters would be advertised in the press. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2013.