Rawalpindi
Electricity consumers should brace themselves for another bombshell as Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) is all set to issue electricity bills of 45 days reading after Eidul Azha.
This practice was adopted at the time of Eidul Fitr citing holidays of the festive occasion behind sending bills of 45 reading. However, Iesco has once again directed Sub Divisional Officers (SDOs) to force meter readers for taking 45 days reading instead of 30 days.
Iesco without a written notification of government involved in this illegal activity is making a habit of taking 45 days reading instead of 30 days only to show its performance.
The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) Executive Engineer (Operation) Asif Ullah Khan has confirmed ‘The News’ that they are taking reading of 45 days instead of 30 days because of long Eid holidays. The reading of August is still continued as there will be five Eid holidays, he claimed. “We have cancelled holidays of Saturday and Sunday and directed all meter readers to take the reading,” he said. He also admitted that consumers will receive inflated bills after Eidul Azha.
The poor consumers also got inflated bills after Eidul Fitr with an average raise of 30-40 per cent despite massive loadshedding.
Ibrar Ahmed Shaikh, a consumer said that government has trapped us in inflated bills. It was fruitless having hope of relief because government and Iesco working side by side, he denounced.
Muhammad Zubair, Raja Dilpazir, Mukhtar Abbasi, Chaudhry Shah Zeb, Muhammad Waheed, Falak Sher and several other consumers angrily said that they would approach the court and file a writ petition against Iesco for sending bills of 45 days instead of 30 days. “We have high hopes from courts of justice otherwise Iesco will suppress us under inflated bills, they denounced.