K Electric fined Rs10m for charging meter rent

ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has fined K Electric Rs10 million for charging meter rent of Rs7-20 from its consumers.
The regulator has declared charging of meter rent from consumers as illegal and punished the K Electric to this effect.
According to the documents available with ‘The News’, the electric power regulator has declared the receiving of Rs7-20 from consumers in the shape of meter rent as illegal and unjustified. Nepra has directed the K. Electric to immediately halt the charging of meters rent from electricity consumers.
K. Electric has been found illegally charging the meter rent from consumers for many years and in every month the company was pocketing Rs18 million. The company has also been directed to pay back the amount to the consumers fleeced under the head of meter rent charges.
The document says that Nepra had given K. Electric the multi-year tariff under which it was liable to charge from the consumers only the approved tariff and was not allowed to charge anything under any head except the approved tariff.
“Since the K. Electric has committed serious violations of rules as per the license issued to it by charging the meter rent owing to which the company is fined of Rs10 million,” says Nepra.
K. Electric pleaded that meter rent is being charged since the establishment of Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) arguing it has to bear the expenses when any meter goes out of order which is why the charging of meter rent should continue unabated. However, Nepra in the light of the law rejected the plea of K. Electric directing it to submit the implementation report within a month’s time.