MULTAN: The Ministry of Water and Power has replaced four members of the Multan Electric Power Company’s Board of Directors including its chairman after a controversy over the transfer of consumers’ security deposits of Rs1 billion to the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) by the Mepco authorities deepened.

On Nov 6, 2013, a notification No 6(31) MEPCO (BoD) was issued according to which the prime minister had reconstituted Mepco’s board and Ahsan Rashid, Rehman Naseem, Mian Zahid Pervaiz Marral, Chaudhry Munir Ahmed Arain, Muhammad Anees Khwaja, Khwaja Muhammad Azam and Rajan Sultan besides the additional secretary of ministry of water and power and additional secretary/joint secretary nominated by the finance division were made members of the board.

The board at a meeting in June 2014 elected Mr Rashid its chairman.

On Jan 18, 2016, company’s secretary Sajid Yaqoob sent a circulation No 01/16 to the members of the board for the transfer of Rs1 billion to the CPPA/Pepco while requesting to return the signed copy through fax due to the urgency of the matter.

Instead of approving the request for the transfer, board chairman Mr Rashid asked the secretary to provide the information that how much amount was already payable and for how long. “How long is the life of Pepco (itself) as we keep hearing that the government is going to end it,” he further questioned.

He was informed that the recoverable amount taken by the federal government during 2015-16 was Rs8.2 billion.

After getting to know that the entire amount was transferred to the federal government without any lawful authority, the members objected to the circulation and asked the Mepco authorities to put the matter on the agenda of the next meeting being held on Jan 29. The authorities, however, transferred the amount to the CPPA on Jan 19 without getting the approval.

The members during the board meeting on Jan 29 warned the authorities for illegality. The matter was deferred until the next meeting of the board which was informed that the company had got back the amount but the agenda item was referred for the formation of more detailed and relevant information after the Mepco authorities failed to show a documentary proof of the returned money.

Instead of providing the information, the Mepco authorities excluded the item from the agenda of the meetings held in March and April, though they were not authorised do so as an agenda item could only be excluded from the list by the board.

Sources said the Mepco authorities brought the matter into the notice of the ministry officials instead of taking measures for the return of the amount. The ministry decided to replace the board members including the chairman who took stand over the issue.

They said the board was reconstituted on May 11 and Mr Rashid and three other members Naseem Rehman, Chaudhry Munir Ahmed Arain and Muhammad Anees were removed from the board.

According to the Public Sector Companies (Corporate Governance) Rules, 2013 a director, once appointed or elected, shall hold office for a period of three years, unless he resigns or is removed in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance.

It states that the removal of a director shall only take place in the event of misconduct or if the director has not performed up to the standard, determined through a performance evaluation.

Mr Rashid confirmed that he was no more the chairman or the member of the board.

Mepco Deputy Manager of Public Relations Jamshed Niazi said the funds were transferred on the instructions of the ministry and had been recovered as it was a temporary loan.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2016