ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Post has found two junior officials of its G-9 office guilty in a multi-million scam involving payments of utility bills.

The scam was detected after hundreds of consumers of utility companies lodged complaints with the Post Office that they had deposited payments against their utility bills in the post office but payments were not forwarded to the service providers.

The complainants are the consumers of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) and Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation (PTCL). They lodged the complaints after receiving next bills with heavy arrears and fines.

Upon an internal inquiry, it was found that the staff received the cash, singed and stamped the bills, but did not forward the collected amount to the relevant service providers.

According to the sources privy to the development, this practice had been continued for a couple of months and two officials, including a clerk, were found involved in the scam .

After registration of the case, the suspects went into hiding, but later they were arrested. The Pakistan Post has so far retrieved Rs900,000 from them.

Saad, a resident of sector G-9, said that he deposited Rs26,000 electricity bills in two months in the Post Office. He said when he received the arrears in one bill, the Post Office officials told him to deposit the amount without the arrears. However, the next month, he received a bill with two months arrears.

When he formally filed a complaint with the proof with the Post Office, the officials assured him that he would get his amount back. However, his efforts to get the amount back turned out to be a futile exercise.

Additional Director General (Administration) Hafiz Shakeel, when contacted, said the post offices were still operating manually and due to this fact, the corrupt officials sometimes took advantage. He, however, said the recent scam had thoroughly been investigated and the officials responsible for embezzlement had also been arrested.

According to him, the management is examining the claims of the affected consumers and they will be compensated soon.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2023