Iesco stood on top in the wake of its plausible performance to curb losses, improve recoveries and act in line with the time frame for new connections. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Power distribution companies (DISCOs) were involved in an overbilling scam worth Rs47 billion to conceal inefficiencies, electricity theft and line losses, audit officials told a subcommittee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday.
The PAC subcommittee examined the issue of overbilling caused by incorrect meter readings. Audit officials revealed that the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) accounted for Rs45 billion of the overbilling, followed by the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), which overbilled consumers by Rs1.56 billion.
According to the Power Division secretary, 278,649 consumers received inflated electricity bills amounting to Rs47 billion in a single month. He said smart meters and transformer-based metering systems were being installed to prevent such incidents, adding that no complaints of overbilling had been received since their introduction.
Audit officials told the meeting that lower-level DISCO employees involved in meter reading had been responsible for the overbilling because they exercised excessive discretionary powers. They said paying consumers were deliberately overbilled to conceal electricity theft and line losses, while refunds were issued only to consumers who formally lodged complaints.
PAC members also noted that power companies had overbilled consumers for 904 million electricity units in just one month. Senator Afnanullah criticised the employees involved, saying those figures represented only the cases that had been detected. “We do not know how many consumers are overbilled every month,” he said.
“If a person earning only Rs20,000 a month receives an electricity bill of Rs100,000, that could drive them towards electricity theft,” he said, adding: “People are selling gold they had saved for their daughters’ weddings just to pay electricity bills.”
Responding to the Power Division secretary, committee member Saleem Mandviwalla said: “It is easy for you to say this, but have you considered how consumers had to borrow money to pay these inflated bills? We have been hearing for the past 20 years that smart meters will be installed.”
The Lesco chief executive officer said overbilling in the company’s service area had now been reduced to zero. He claimed electricity theft had been significantly curbed with the assistance of the Rangers. For the first time, he added, one executive engineer (XEN) and seven sub-divisional officers (SDOs) had been dismissed from service.
The subcommittee also reviewed an audit finding that revealed the embezzlement of Rs1.06 billion in the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) service area through payments to ghost and retired employees. The audit report said the fraud involved collusion between a drawing and disbursing officer (DDO), an XEN and the chief financial officer’s (CFO) office.
