PM orders strict action against officers on overbilling

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday directed to complete the installation of smart meters as soon as possible to ensure transparency in the billing system and called for concrete steps to prevent electricity theft.

The prime minister chaired a review meeting on the performance of electricity distribution companies (Discos) where he said that overbilling was unacceptable and strict action would be taken against officers involved in such practices.

The deliberations centered on the affairs of Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco), the PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

Shehbaz expressed concern over the delay in the appointment process of chief executive officers (CEOs) of distribution companies and directed for ensuring CEOs’ appointments through a highly transparent process and asked for its completion at the earliest.

Recruitment of workforce in Discos should be merit-based, with no compromise on transparency, he further added. The prime minister said that all the available resources should be utilised to meet the targets of Nepra.

The meeting was given a detailed briefing on the achievement of targets which included recovery rates (up to November of FY2024-25): Lesco 96.82 percent, Pesco 87.98 percent and Fesco 97.57 percent.

Transmission and distribution losses (up to November of FY2024-25) in these companies remained at: Lesco 13.04 percent, Pesco 33 percent and Fesco 6.01 percent.

The meeting was also apprised of the smart meter installation progress: Lesco: Out of 223,365 three-phase smart meters, 49,470 had been installed; Pesco: Out of 152,559 smart meters, 51,173 have been installed; Fesco: Out of 192,311 smart meters, 11,276 have been installed.

The Lesco, Pesco and Fesco offered consumers facilities for complaint resolution and other services via call centers, emails, websites, interactive voice response (IVR) systems and Nepra’s mobile and web services.

Moreover, free access to the 118 helpline from all mobile operators was being ensured for complaints related to electricity transmission, it was further added. The complaint resolution (up to November) stood at: Lesco 99.2 percent, Pesco 99.9 percent and Fesco 99.7 percent.

Minister for Economic Affairs Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Power Division Sardar Owais Ahmad Khan Leghari, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervez Malik, Prime Minister’s Coordinator Rana Ahsan Afzal and senior government officials attended the meeting.