Skip to main content

PM says overbilling by power firms unacceptable, directs completion of smart meters installation

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said overbilling by power distribution companies (Discos) was unacceptable and ordered that the installation of smart meters be completed as soon as possible to ensure transparency.

In February, a four-member independent inquiry committee on ‘Abject Failure — Illegal Overbilling’ confirmed overcharging allegations made by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) against all Discos across the country but absolved them of “deliberate and mala fide” fleecing.

In April, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi made it clear that overbilling would not be tolerated under any circumstances. The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy (Power Division) had also expressed grave concern over rising overbilling complaints in August.

The directives were issued today as the premier chaired a review meeting on the performance of Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fescp), a press release from the PM Office Media Wing said.

During the meeting, PM Shehbaz termed overbilling unacceptable, stating that strict action would be taken against officers involved in such practices.

He expressed concern over the delay in the appointment process of Discos’ chief executive officers (CEOs) and directed to ensure that the appointments were made at the earliest through a highly transparent process.

“Recruitment of workforce in distribution companies should be merit-based, with no compromise on transparency,” the prime minister asserted.

Meanwhile, the meeting was apprised of the progress of smart meters’ installation as well.

The advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) meters, also known as smart meters, automatically transfer the reading data to the control room (main server) on the exact meter reading date and time, enabling the officials to quickly process and send bills to the consumers.

Since the system also allows Discos to receive and check readings on a daily basis, it minimises the chances of corruption (overbilling, tampering, etc) by ending the obsolete manual reading system.

Pesco took the top spot for the installation rate, with 51,173 installed out of 152,559 smart meters, according to figures reported by state-run APP.

Out of 223,365 three-phase smart meters, 49,470 had been installed by Lesco. Fesco had only installed 11,276 out of 192,311 smart meters.

PM Shehbaz also said all available resources should be utilised to meet the targets set by Nepra.

According to a detailed briefing on the achievement of targets, recovery rates up to November of the current fiscal year (FY 2024-25) were reported as 96.82 per cent for Lesco, 87.98pc for Pesco and 97.57pc for Fesco.

Transmission and distribution losses (up to November of FY 2024-25) remained at 13.04pc for Lesco, 33pc for Pesco and 6.01pc for Fesco.

Minister for Economic Affairs Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Power Division Awais Khan Leghari, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervez Malik, PM’s Coordinator Rana Ahsan Afzal, and other senior government officials attended the meeting.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/gTv5nLJ
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Explainer: Iran’s economy faces rocky road amid rising prices, falling currency

Iran’s economy is going through one of its most difficult periods in years, fueled by sanctions, high inflation, and a significant drop in the value of the national currency, the rial. These pressures have had a direct impact on living standards and have also fueled recent protests. The protests began on Dec. 28 in commercial hubs in the capital Tehran, when shopkeepers, merchants, and small business owners staged strikes and demonstrations to protest soaring inflation, the collapsing rial, and deteriorating economic conditions, and have since grown into nationwide anti-government expressions of discontent involving workers, students, and others across multiple cities. The Iranian president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid the protests. Masoud Pezeshkian said the government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially on the economy. Currency collapse at the centre of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitchell Starc surpasses Wasim Akram as most prolific left-arm pacer in Test history

Australian veteran Mitchell Starc became the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history on Thursday, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The 35-year-old bagged England’s Harry Brook at the Gabba in Brisbane on day one of the day-night second Ashes Test for his 415th wicket since his debut at the same ground 14 years ago. It moved him past Wasim, widely recognised as the greatest left-arm bowler the sport has seen. Wasim played 104 Tests for his 414 wickets with Starc reaching the milestone in his 102nd, helped by a career-best 7-58 in the first innings of the opening Ashes Test at Perth. Starc is now 16th on the all-time wicket-taker list and could move above both India’s Harbhajan Singh (417) and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock (421) in the current pink-ball Test. After that he will have New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (431) in his sights. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/xclHiX2
Post a Comment
Read more

Global reaction to potential Israel-Hezbollah ‘spiral of violence’

World leaders on Tuesday sounded the alarm over fears of a wider conflict after Lebanon suffered its deadliest day in two decades in Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds. After nearly a year of cross-border fire since the Gaza offensive erupted, Israeli bombardment on Monday killed 558 people in Lebanon, including 50 children, according to the country’s health ministry. The toll — the highest since Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went to war in mid-2006 — raised fears of an all-out conflict engulfing the Middle East. ‘Tens of thousands’ flee: UN UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “gravely alarmed by the escalating situation… and the large number of civilian casualties, including children and women,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow,” United Nations refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh said in Geneva. ‘Spiral of violence’: US Israel’s clo...
Post a Comment
Read more