Overbilling revelations

The scandal of overbilling of citizens by power companies is an ultimate case of how vulnerable households are across the country. An investigative report by The News and Geo has found that households have been overbilled for their power consumption on multiple occasions over the past year. In some cases, families were billed for as many as 37 days, violating a 31-day limit under tariffs approved by Nepra. The companies have been setting their own billing periods, tampering with Nepra’s tariff conditions. Such billing malpractices target a large number of unsuspecting households who end up paying higher electricity bills than they should. This malpractice is more rampant for residential customers in eight major cities of the country. Such irregularities are a blot on the image of various power companies indulging in this plunder. According to the investigation by Geo TV, the cities where this is happening include Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, and Sukkur.

The electric supply companies in these cities billed their customers for more than 31 days in a single month on more than one occasion since January 2021. This breach of confidence is a serious issue that needs immediate action by Nepra, which has after the publishing of this investigative report called for an inquiry into these revelations. As the country’s apex power regulatory body, Nepra’s terms are clear in this matter – a ‘month’ means a billing period of 30 days or less reckoned from the date of the last meter reading. In some cases, the month can extend to 31 days if the day on which the last reading was carried out is also included. This critical component is flouted by companies in complete disregard for rules set by Nepra.

Most residential customers in the country are not aware of what game is being played out with them in terms of overbilling. This calculation also has its bearing on determining when to apply the new 7.5 percent income tax penalty. This penalty has been imposed since July on customers whose electricity bills exceed Rs25, 000. Such negligence – whether deliberate or unwitting – results in tampering with tariff conditions by billing customers for as much as 37 days. Because of the tax slabs, even a single day billed extra can mean big penalties that the household does not even know of. The people of this country certainly deserve some better treatment than this – especially when they are already dealing with loadshedding, power breakdowns, and the ever-persistent inflationary chokehold. If big companies rip their consumers off in this blatant manner, they should be liable for heavy fines. The consumers should get their money back with additional amounts as interests and fines charged to the companies. Nepra must take this breach of its terms as a serious violation. People are already under immense economic pressures due to unemployment and inflation; they simply can’t afford to suffer under overbilling too.