May 05, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 28, 1429

RAWALPINDI, May 4: Sale of local-made UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) machines has risen tremendously with the rise in mercury and longer hours of loadshedding in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

There is such great demand for them that it has created a shortage of not only UPS units but also of the heavy duty batteries which go with them.

Traders dealing in the two items have started fleecing the people who are running from pillar to post in search of them.

Media reports that power shortage in the country has reached 3,000MW, and is likely to worsen, have caused panic buying of UPS systems and power generators.

Interviews with a number of traders in Rawalpindi revealed that UPS manufacturers had doubled their production and yet the demand could not be met.

Traders of College Road said they got a limited supply of UPS from at least 10 manufacturers operating in the area and had increased the delivery time to buyers to two weeks - that too without the battery which is essential for running a UPS unit.

Wasim Khalid, a retired government employee, said he bought a 1,000 volts (1KV) UPS from College Road last week for his house in Faisal Colony but had not been able to use it as the battery was not available.

A number of UPS manufacturers and traders told Dawn that the prolonged power outages with the advent of summer season had given an impetus to the sale of UPS units in the past two months. They said with the increase in demand, the prices of UPS machines had also witnessed almost 100 per cent increase. For example, a 2KV UPS machine, which was available for Rs14,000 to Rs17,000 few months back, is now available for Rs26,000 to Rs30,000. This price does not include the price of batteries used in UPS machines. Similarly, the prices of batteries have also doubled in the last couple of months. For example, the price of a 110 ampere battery has increased from Rs3,500 to Rs3,800 last year to Rs6,500 to Rs7,500.

They said the demand for China-made power generators was on the rise until last year, but due to increase in the oil prices, people were now preferring UPS machines over generators.

Mr Daud, a shopkeeper, said until last year, he was selling some three to five UPS in a month. Now, he said, he was selling four to six UPS almost daily. In his shop, a 2KV UPS machine is available for Rs29,000; a 1KV machine for Rs14,000 and an 800VA machine for Rs6,500.

Giving reasons for increase in the prices, a manufacturer Mr Farooq said there had been an unprecedented increase in the prices of electronic components and other raw material which was used in UPS machines. For example, he said, a transistor which was available for Rs20 only two months back was now being sold for Rs58. Similarly, he said, the rate of copper (which is used in wires) had reached about Rs900 per kilogramme from its earlier price of Rs250 per kg.

When asked about the quality of the local-made UPS machines, the traders admitted that some of the manufacturers were using substandard components due to which there had been an increase in the complaints of the machines as well. They said people preferred locally-made UPS to imported ones as most of the shopkeepers were selling imported UPS machines without a warranty. Moreover, they said, locally-made UPS machines could be repaired easily.

A large number of customers were also seen in these electronics shops who had come there to get their UPS machines repaired. A customer Mr Mubarak said that he had purchased a UPS device two months back but it developed a fault soon after its installation. Since them he said, he had been frequently visiting the dealer from where he had bought the UPS, but was unable to get a positive response. He said the dealer’s attitude was no more customer-friendly and he had even offered him that he could get his full amount refunded if he (Mr Mubarak) was not satisfied with the UPS performance. According to Mr Mubarak, the offer had made this offer only because of the fact that he could sale the UPS again to any customer as its price had further increased. Interviews with a number of customers also revealed that a majority of them wanted to buy UPS machines so that they could sleep in the night peacefully.

Mr Nadeem, who works in a private company, said that he worked in the office from morning till evening. He said when he returned home in the evening fully tired, he found no electricity at home. He said power went off many times in the night disturbing his sleep which was also affecting his health and work.

An old woman, who had also brought a faulty UPS machine for repairing at a shop, started cursing the rulers and politicians when she came to know that she would not be able to get back her machine before three days. She said that she was ill and her doctor had advised her complete rest. However, she said, she was not able to sleep at night due to power failures. She said the power crisis would be resolved only when Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif would also spend a night without electricity.

A number of the people appealed to the government that it should at least ensure uninterrupted power supply from 11pm to 7am in the morning so that they could at least spend their nights peacefully. They said in the night time, all the offices, commercial centres and markets were closed and there should be no problem for Wapda to provide uninterrupted supply at night time.