Overbilling unacceptable, strict action against officers involved: PM

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that overbilling is not acceptable in any way, and strict action will be taken against the officers involved in overbilling.

A review meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the performance of electricity distribution companies, in which Federal Ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Sardar Owais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Ministers of State Shaza Fatima, Ali Pervez Malik, Prime Minister Coordinator Rana Ehsan Afzal, and relevant senior government officers participated.

The issues of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) were discussed in the meeting. The participants of the meeting were given a detailed briefing on the performance of LESCO, PESCO, and FESCO.

The briefing stated that in the financial year 2024-25, LESCO's recovery was 96.82 percent, PESCO's recovery was 87.98 percent, and FESCO's recovery was 97.57 percent till November. LESCO has to install 223,365 three-phase smart meters, out of which 49,470 have been installed.

The participants were informed that PESCO has to install 152,559 smart meters, out of which 51,173 have been installed. FESCO has installed 11,276 smart meters out of 192,311 smart meters. Free access to helpline 118 is being ensured to all phone operators for electricity-related complaints.

The briefing further informed that the customers of LESCO, PESCO, and FESCO have access to call centers, emails, websites, interactive voice response, NEPRA’s mobile and web services for complaint redressal, and other services. Till November of this fiscal year, LESCO had resolved 99.2 percent, PESCO 99.9 percent, and FESCO 99.7 percent of complaints.

Shehbaz Sharif directed that the installation of smart meters should be completed as soon as possible so that transparency could be brought into the billing system and concrete steps should be taken to prevent electricity theft.

Expressing concern over the slow pace in the process of appointing the Chief Executive Officers of the electricity distribution companies, the Prime Minister said that the process of appointment should be completed as soon as possible through a highly transparent process.

Shehbaz Sharif further said that the recruitment of manpower in electricity distribution companies should be done on merit. No lapse in transparency in the recruitment process will be tolerated, and all resources should be utilized to achieve the target set by NEPRA.