RAHIM YAR KHAN: The Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) has allegedly charged its agricultural consumers in various subdivisions of Rahim Yar Khan circle 10 million additional units in the bills for April 2022.

Sources told this correspondent that these consumers were charged for additional units because Mepco officials had failed to crack down on influential electricity thieves and cover the line losses.

According to sources, a maximum number of consumers were charged for 2.4 million additional units in subdivision Jamal Din Wali, 1.4 million additional units in Mianwali Quershian, 1.3 additional units in Kotsamaba, 1.2 additional units in Gulshan and more than 1 million in Khanpur and Zahirpir subdivisions.

The most-affected consumers are small farmers who run their tubewells to irrigate their fields due to unavailability of canal water. Some consumers of Mianwali Quershian said they were charged more than 10,000 additional units in their bills.

Mepco officials fail to crack down on influential electricity thieves

Similarly, Mepco’s Kotsamaba subdivision consumers Muhammad Hanif, Abdul Haq and Khurshid Ahmed said they had received their bills of April with additional units of 6,000, 5,000 and 7,000, respectively. They said Mepco had targeted the small farmers to cover their line losses and power theft through over-billing.

They said many residential and commercial consumers also received inflated bills.

Farmers of adjoining areas Muhammad Hanif, Shabbir Malik, Jam Mukhtar, Muhammad Hassan and Chaudhry Sardar told reporters that they were already facing hardships due to costly diesel, fertilisers, seed and pesticides and overcharging by Mepco was adding insult to injury.

They alleged that there was difference on their electricity meters and the bills they received. Worse still, they said, they were visiting their local subdivision offices for the last one week to get relief but to no avail.

When they had complained about their bills, they said, they were advised by officials at their subdivision to go to Mepco circle office where they were instructed by officers to come with a hand-written application for bills’ correction. They said no one attended when they visited the office with a hand-written application.

Mepco spokesperson at Multan headquarters Jamshaid Niazi did not reply to the messages sent by this correspondent for his version.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2022