PSP chief asks federal govt to end ‘KE’s monopoly’

Showing his anger over prolonged power cuts amid the sizzling summer and the lockdown, Pak Sarzameen Party Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal urged the federal government on Thursday to end the K-Electric’s monopoly, and ensure a level playing field for other market players to independently generate, buy, transmit and distribute electricity to consumers on the pattern of cellular companies currently operating in the country.

He said that for the past several years, the K-Electric’s “incompetent management” had not only been publicly crying over its failure and incompetence, but because of its monopoly it had subjected the Karachiites to bear it’s miserable conduct.

“The only solution to the problems faced by the people of Karachi due to announced and unannounced loadshedding, and excessive and unfair bills is to end the monopoly of the K-Electric for the purchase and transmission of electricity and to provide electricity to various companies in Karachi in the style of cellular companies,” said Kamal, who has also served as former mayor of the city.

“This would not only ensure competition amongst the players, and every company would strive to improve its service quality, but also the consumers can be protected from the torment of excessive bills and load shedding.”

Kamal said that he had so far sent two letters to the Nepra chairman regarding the “injustices of the K-Electric” to more than 20 million customers in Karachi, in which he took a stand stating that the issues of the K-Electric are of serious nature in the public interest, i.e. reimbursement of almost Rs55 billion to over 20 million customers in Karachi, elimination of additional collection of Rs9.5 billion under the head of bad debt, and stopping the KE from unjust profiteering from the public.

The Nepra chairman had been unable to answer the questions raised in the letters, he said. The PSP supremo demanded from the state institutions to take notice of the plight of the people of the city, which contributed 70 per cent of the revenue to the country and 90 per cent to the province of Sindh.