SHC moved to form judicial commission to probe ‘Rs62bn overbilling’ by KE

The Sindh High Court issued notices to the additional attorney general, K-Electric and the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday over a petition seeking the constitution of a judicial commission to probe the alleged overbilling of consumers to the tune of Rs62 billion by the city’s power utility.

The court also directed K-Electric (KE) to place on record the sale and purchase agreement, if any, with the Shanghai electric power company of China.

The petition has been filed by Karamat Ali of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research and others seeking an inquiry into K-Electric’s acts and issues with regard to the alleged overbilling of consumers, unpaid and payable dues the power utility owed various government entities, the non-implementation of the time of use metering billing facilities and the failure to resolve pending disputes prior to the transfer of indirect shareholding to the Shanghai company.

The petitioners’ counsel, Faisal Siddiqui, submitted the official respondents had failed to investigate the overbilling issue despite a reference which the power secretary had sent to Nepra about the unfair tariff the K-Electric consumers were forced to pay. 

He said Nepra was informed by the ministry of water and power that with the help of excessive tariff setting, KE consumers had been made to pay Rs62 billion over the past few years, not accounting for the loss on account of efficiency gain by the KE in the previous years. 

It was further stated that the tariff determination practice adopted for the KE violated the general policy and guidelines relating to the tariff determination.

The counsel said Nepra was advised to take these aspects in consideration, while setting the new tariff for the KE, which not only corrected all those anomalies in the new tariff of the power utility but also transferred these excessive payments back to the consumers. He said the regulatory body was advised to ensure strict accountability of those responsible for causing such a colossal loss to the consumers.

Nepra however denied the allegations levelled against K-Electric and defended the new tariff of the power utility, Siddiqui said. 

He argued that Nepra being the regulatory authority was not acting in a lawful and prudent manner nor was it exercising its powers as it ought to have taken timely action against K-Electric to save the interest of the consumers. 

He said the constitution of a judicial commission was the only solution and a proper inquiry was needed into the illegal affairs of K-Electric.

The court was requested to constitute the judicial commission and direct the government to disclose the terms of all agreements for the transfer of KE’s shareholding to the Shanghai company. It was also asked to restrain the transfer of shareholding till the completion of the probe.

A division bench, headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar, issued notices to the respondents for their comments and directed that a notice be served on the Shanghai company through the Chinese embassy in Islamabad. 

The court directed the KE to place on record a copy of the sale/purchase agreement if any with regard to transfer of shares to the Chinese power company on March 28.