LAHORE: Severe shortage of electricity meters and a delay in purchasing new ones allegedly due to negligent and incompetent Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) board of directors (BoD) and senior officials has left consumers in trouble who are being served heavy detection bills.
Official sources say Lesco is yet to dispose of about 30,000 applications for new connections or replacement of faulty meters received in the last five months.
“This is highhandedness with thousands of consumers paying huge amounts on the pretext of detection bills after their meters went out of order. Similarly, those seeking new connections after paying heavy fees are yet to be facilitated,” says a senior Lesco official on the condition of anonymity.
Consumers with faulty meters being served heavy detection bills
Lesco does not have even one single or three-phase meter for replacement of faulty ones or new connections. Despite this the sub-divisional officers (SDOs) in city districts of Lahore, Okara, Kasur, Sheikhupura and Nankana continue to serve allegedly unjustified and illegal heavy detection bills to consumers for electricity they never used.
“Over a year ago, I got a new electricity connection at my residence in Hasnainabad near Cavalry. In July, our meter developed a fault and stopped working. I reported the matter to the SDO concerned, but he couldn’t do anything since there was no meter available for replacement. But surprisingly, they sent us two bills worth Rs35,000 each by ignoring our monthly average that never exceeded Rs7,000,” complains Muhammad Yaseen, who serves in a private organisation in Gulberg.
He claimed even when his meter was working, Lesco had sent him an unjustified bill of Rs35,000. “But I paid it by selling my motorcycle,” he added.
Shahbaz Ahmad of Kahna also complained about detection bill after his meter stopped working due to a technical fault. “Lesco officials neither replaced our meter nor stopped issuing detection bills. How do I arrange a detection bill of over Rs52,000?” Ahmad asked.
Another official said the Lesco BoD was responsible for ordering purchase of new meters but it did not either approve a proposal to buy new meters or allowed senior company officials to make alternate arrangements.
“The previous BoD was of the view that the company’s plan of purchasing new meters was costly. Therefore it kept the matter on hold unnecessarily for long, creating a crisis for the company as well as consumers. That is why the government constituted a new BoD recently so it could take decisions on time,” the official explained.
He said the new BoD’s first meeting was held on Saturday in which various committees were constituted to resolve all pending issues, including the new meters’ purchase.
Lesco chief executive officer (CEO) and general manager (technical) were not available for comments despite repeated attempts. However, Mr Farooq, who introduced himself as the assistant to the CEO, admitted the company was in trouble due to shortage of meters. However, he declined to comment when asked about the reasons behind it.
Lesco spokesman Imran Afzal said the new board of directors had been constituted and its first meeting on Saturday had approved formation of required committees. The matter of meters would be resolved soon and purchase orders be issued.
Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2016
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