Power companies collect billions from consumers in overbilling

Islamabad: Despite more than 12 charges including capacity charges and fuel price adjustment, the power distribution companies were not content and overbilled the consumers in July and August.

According to the details, National Electric and Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) called the billing procedure suspicious.

The NEPRA document revealed that the citizens of Multan region were charged the most in August and July. Multan Electric Supply Company (MEPCO) sent additional bills to more than 5.7 million consumers in July and 2.265 million in August.. There were no pictures of meter reading on more than 138,000 bills.

Gujranwala Electric Supply Company (GESCO) overcharged more than 463,000 customers in July and 1.2 million customers in August.

Also in FESCO, the number of customers who were sent additional bills in two months is 1.485 million.

More than 650,000 electricity consumers of Lahore region had to pay extra bill in August, while 123,000 in July and 126,000 in August received bills without meter reading.

According to the documents, in July and August, 729,000 customers of Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) and 116,000 customers of Quetta region had to pay excess bills.

More than 100,000 bills were sent without meter readings, while 65,000 customers received incorrect reading images on the bills.

The details of how much additional money the power companies collected from this corruption have not yet been revealed, however it is likely to be in the billions of rupees.