LAHORE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is showing improvement in recovery of electricity bills, but Punjab is quite ahead of it.
According to overall recovery ratios of power distribution companies (Discos), which saw a slump in the financial year 2014-15, KP’s recovery against electricity bills showed improvement.
Official statistics of Discos show the province registered 87pc collection in 2014-15 against 74pc in 2013-14, which was 91pc in 2012-13. But Punjab is far better than other province as its collection stood at 97pc in 2014-15 against 96pc in 2013-14 and 2012-13.
However, the recovery of Discos was 88pc in the 2014-15 against 100pc billing. It was 90pc in 2013-14 and 94pc in 2012-13. Company-wise analysis disclosed the Lahore Electric Supply Company lost recovery ratio a bit with 96pc collection in 2014-15 against 98pc in 2013-14 and 2012-13.
Hyderabad Electric Supply Company’s recovery declined to 78pc in 2014-15 against 81pc in 2012-13, and Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) is still struggling with recovery that is hovering around 57pc for three years.
Sepco’s collection in 2014-15 was 58pc, 59pc in 2013-14 and 54pc in 2012-13. Similarly, collection against export to Karachi Electric faced a sharp decline. The collection was 142pc against export to KE in 2012-13, which declined to 98pc in 2013-14 and was now 70pc in 2014-15.
The Quetta Electric Supply Company also registered a decline in collection with just 33pc in 2014-15 against 42pc in 2013-14 and 32pc in 2012-13. Independent Power Producers also faced a decline in collection as the ratio was 102pc in the reported year against 124pc in 2013-14.
On the other hand, the Gujranwala Electric Power Company exhibited better recovery with 97pc, while Faisalabad Electric Supply Company stood tall with 100pc, but Multan Electric Power Company crossed it all with 102pc recovery.
The Peshawar Electric Supply Company registered 88pc collection in 2014-15 against 86pc in 2013-14; Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) showed great improvement with 76pc against just 8pc in 2013-14. The company registered 119pc collection in 2012-13.
Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2016
