Nepra slaps Rs10m fine on Qesco over safety failures

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has imposed a fine of Rs10 million on the Quetta Electric Supply Company Ltd (Qesco) for failing to establish a Health Safety and Environment (HSE) Directorate as mandated by regulatory requirements.

The decision was announced on Wednesday, following a series of non-compliance issues dating back to 2021. As according to Section 7.1 of the Power Safety Code, all the licensees are required to establish their independent directorate/department of Occupational Health Safety and Environment before December, 2021.

Notably, on Jan 9, 2025 too, the regulator slapped a fine of Rs10 million on Qesco for its failure pertaining to 100 percent execution of earthing/grounding of its HT/LT poles/structures in its service territory.

The authority says that despite multiple reminders and directives from Nepra, Qesco did not respond adequately to the authority’s requests to set up the necessary safety measures. The regulatory body highlighted that the lack of a functional safety management system contributed to nine fatal accidents in the fiscal year 2023-24 alone.