Iesco to discontinue bills’ collection through Pak Post from July 1

Islamabad : Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) has suddenly withdrawn the electricity bills collection service from Pakistan Post from July 1, says a press release.

The aim of this move by Iesco is to digitalise the manual system of collections and avoid losses in cash collections. Meanwhile, sources in Pakistan Post expressed surprise at this sudden unilateral decision and assured that the institution has been receiving Rs8 per bill on utility bills for two decades, but due to high expenses, the institution is facing losses, despite this, the provision of services has been continued in view of the convenience of the public and the prestige of the institution.

Pakistan Post has collected 46.7 million bills of electricity, gas, telephone and WASA in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year and the number of utility bills will exceed 55 million by the end of June.

Public confidence in the institution is shown by the figures that during the last fiscal year, more than 42.8 million bills of electricity companies were collected in post offices. Of which 10 million bills are from IESCO alone. And during the current financial year, the figures so far are showing a significant increase.

All utility companies, including IESCO, already have an alternative proposed facility for submitting bills, but the public depends mostly on this national institution. Meanwhile, sources said that the process of digitizing Pakistan Post is going on rapidly, but despite this, this sudden decision will cause severe difficulties for the public, especially rural consumers.