KARACHI, Nov 30: A body comprising some Karachi Electric Supply Corporation consumers has been formed under the name of Aggrieved KESC Consumers Association (AKCA), for solution of the problems being faced by the citizens.

This was stated by the chief organizer of AKCA, Abdul Baqi Siddiqui, while speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.

“The process of registration of this organization is in progress and as soon as this is completed, AKCA will begin a mass campaign to strive for problem solution and also for preparing suggestions for the government to improve the KESC’s performance,” he said.

He alleged that the performance of the KESC had been deteriorating and its losses are rampant, while the consumer services were very poor.

He further alleged that the KESC officials were harassing consumers by arresting them on false charges of power theft, adding that the prosecuting authority, director-general recovery, was also the judicial authority, which was unfair.

“This is illegal as the government had, since long, separated the executive and judicial authorities, and therefore a prosecution authority cannot be a magistrate,” Mr Siddiqui observed.

He said in most cases, the KESC did not go for independent witnesses and produced its own staffers instead, which was a violation of the Electricity Act, which provided that at least two independent persons from the area should be taken as witnesses in a case of power theft against any consumer.

Moreover, the KESC officials also often violated the time limit while lodging an FIR against a consumer, which was also illegal, Mr Siddiqui added.—APP