KARACHI: The K-Electric announced on Thursday that it would issue revised electricity bills for the month of August to the consumers who had electricity consumption of equal to or less than 200 units.

The KE said it would facilitate only Non Time-of-Use (Non-ToU) residential consumers in line with the notification released by the federal energy ministry about the modification of June’s fuel charges adjustment (FCA).

In a statement, the utility company said the revised bills would be available from Aug 26 onwards and could be collected from KE’s operational customer centres across the city. It said that agricultural customers within KE territory were also eligible for the government relief.

It also extended the due date for August bills till 30th of the current month.

Power utility implements federal govt’s announcement of relief to consumers of up to 200 units

However, a KE official said: “All ToU consumers, Non-ToU residential consumers having beyond 200 units of consumption as well as all commercial, and industrial consumers, are required to continue paying their bills as per routine.”

Protesters ransack KE office in Korangi

Enraged over prolonged power outages and inflated bills, residents of Korangi on Thursday stormed a local office of the power utility and ransacked it before arrival of law enforcers, who managed to prevent the situation from deteriorating, according to witnesses and officials.

A large number of protesters, including women and children, held a noisy demonstration outside the KE office near Darul Uloom, blocked the main Korangi Industrial Area road and chanted slogans against it. They set old tyres on fire causing suspension of vehicular traffic flow on both track near Singer Chowrangi. Several hundred vehicles were stuck up in the snarl-up. A large group of protesters also overpowered private guards of the power utility, broke into the office and ransacked fixtures and furniture. Contingents of the police and Rangers rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control by persuading the protesters to leave the office.

Meanwhile, a Korangi police spokesperson in a statement said that the people protested at KE’s Korangi Darul Uloom office over increase in their bills and ransacked the power utility office.

Landhi DSP and Awami Colony SHO, along with police contingents, controlled the situation and got the road reopened to traffic, added the spokesperson.

Separately, residents of Shah Latif Town also blocked National Highway near Jogi Mor against “overbilling”.

Malir SSP Irfan Bahadur said they were asking as to why the utility had included fuel adjustment charges in their bills, which ultimately increased manifold. They submitted a memorandum with power utility officials and dispersed peacefully, added the senior police officer. The traffic remained suspended on the highway for some time, he said.

The KE spokesperson said: “On Thursday, severe damage was caused to our customer-facing offices, and our staff members were tortured. As many as five FIRs have been lodged by KE and CCTV footages have been shared with the law enforcement authorities for identification of the lawbreakers.”

He said due to severe damage caused to the Landhi and Korangi centres, both would remain temporarily closed.

Similarly, the residents also held protest outside KE office in Nazimabad over the same issue.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2022