ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Monday directed the electricity regulator to establish its sub-offices at the district level within three months to address complaints of consumers.

A meeting of the committee held in the Parliament House was presided by Rana Muhammad Hayat Khan. It took notice of overbilling by some power distribution companies (Discos).

The committee directed the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to establish offices in each district of the country so that consumers could register complaints in their district.

The committee directed Nepra to take cognizance of the overbilling.

Members of the committee highlighted cases in which inflated bills were issued to agricultural and domestic consumers.

After the discussion, it was decided that the cases related to overbilling were not limited to any one electricity distribution company and consumers across the country were affected by overbilling.

The committee directed Nepra to strengthen its complaint resolution mechanism and investigate overbilling in respect of an instance pointed out by members of the National Assembly.

When a representative of Nepra pointed out the regulator’s limited powers in penalising the Discos, the committee asked the government to revisit the Nepra law to empower the regulatory body so that it could effectively safeguard the interests of all stakeholders.

The committee also discussed sewerage disposal and waste management in Islamabad.

The members of the committee, including Asad Umar, expressed concern over the spread of diseases due to reported disposal of sewerage waste in nullahs and wrecked sewerage pipelines in Islamabad.

The additional secretary of the Capital Administration and Development Division informed the committee that since the sanitation and water supply came under the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation, the mayor would be in better position to brief the committee on the rehabilitation plan of old sewerage lines.

It was decided that the mayor/chairman of the Capital Development Authority would be invited to the next meeting to discuss measures being taken by the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad in this regard.

The committee directed the Aviation Division secretary to brief it on the commercial restructuring plan of Pakistan International Airlines and outsourcing of services at all airports in its next meeting.

The committee also directed the Aviation Division secretary to brief it on the outcome of the investigation carried out into the incident of smuggling of heroin through PIA aircraft.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2017