Overbilling issue: PPP, PML-N lash out at Nepra, govt

ISLAMABAD: PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb and PPP’s Sherry Rehman on Wednesday censured the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and the government for "looting" people.

A Geo TV investigation has discovered that power companies throughout the country have been overbilling their users since January this year, with some going as far as issuing bills for 35 to 37 days in a single month.

Marriyum Aurangzeb, criticising the government, said that sending power bills for 36-37 days every month for the past eight months is equivalent to "robbing people in broad daylight". "The people are being robbed in every possible way," she said.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Imran Khan, Marriyum said such tactics had been devised by the premier's "criminal mind". Continuing to slam the government, she said that everything has gone to shambles "under Imran sahab's rule".

The PMLN spokesperson added that similar incidents have been reported for gas bills before. PPP leader Sherry Rehman also criticised how the power companies are "looting people of hundreds of millions of rupees" by bending the rules.

She said that both Nepra and the federal government are "complicit" in plundering people. Sherry Rehman condemned the government and Nepra for "being silent" on the matter. She said that Nepra has "failed to abide by its own rules and regulations".

"Power companies are robbing the poor of even the subsidies provided to them," she lamented. Geo TV reviewed bills from Karachi's K-Electric (KE), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco), Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco), Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) and the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco).

The investigation revealed that a number of power companies had billed their customers for more than the allowed 31 days in one month on more than one occasion since January 2021. The overbilling is a gross violation of a key condition set by Nepra in its agreement with each of these power distribution companies, which states that all tariffs for the residential customers are applicable only on a maximum billing period of 31 days.

However, despite being alerted to the issue, Nepra took a lax approach and stated that it will only address individual cases of overbilling when they are filed through its consumer complaint channel.