Getting power bills sans consuming electricity

NOWSHERA: A journalist here on Sunday asked the chief executive officer of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) to take action against the officials for sending him electricity bills despite the fact that he had surrendered the power meter to the company.

Speaking at a press conference, Syed Pir Tajmir Shah, who is the member of the governing body of the Nowshera Press Club, said he had submitted an application to get a separate electricity meter installed at his residence in Nowshera Kalan in 2017.

He recalled that he was provided a meter after six months and that too without the power cable. He said he put the meter at his home and went to Africa on a preaching mission with the Tablighi Jamaat and returned after one year.

“I was surprised when I came to know that the Pesco officials had been sending the electricity bills despite the fact that the meter had not been installed and it was lying in the cupboard unused,” he recalled.

He said he approached Sub-Division Officer Abbas Ali Shah and showed him the electricity bills. He said he also surrendered the electricity meter and secured a receipt from the official concerned.

The journalist said the SDO directed the revenue officer to stop sending the bills, but he was still receiving inflated bills without having consumed a single power unit. He asked Imran Khattak, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy, and Pesco Chief Executive Officer to look into the matter and take action against the erring officials.