KARACHI: A provincial lawmaker belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Thursday moved the Sindh High Court against unscheduled loadshedding in Karachi.

Citing the secretary of the power division, the chairman of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), various senior officials of K-Electric, and others as respondents, MPA Mohammad Aamir Siddiqui also sought a directive for a forensic audit of the power utility.

The petitioner submitted in his petition that there was unscheduled, unauthorised, and unlawful loadshedding of 12 to 14 hours in areas within his constituency, PS-102, in district East.

He stated that he had approached Nepra and the federal ombudsman, where the KE admitted that a very large number of consumers in these areas were regularly paying their bills.

Asks court to order forensic audit of power utility

He further stated that both the federal and provincial governments were providing financial assistance to KE from the public exchequer for system upgrades and to curtail line losses, but the government functionaries had failed to implement relevant regulations and policies to improve the power utility’s operations.

The petitioner also contended that the KE had obtained its licence under Sections 20 and 21 of the Regulation of Generation, Transmission, and Distribution of Electric Power Act, 1997, for generating power and providing electricity distribution services in Karachi.

However, the unscheduled, unauthorised, and prolonged loadshedding was being carried out in violation of the Nepra Act, 1997, and the Performance Standards (Distribution) Rules, 2005, he added.

The other respondents, he argued, had failed to conduct a forensic audit of the KE to determine the reasons for unauthorised increases in electricity charges.

Furthermore, he claimed that the KE was collecting municipal utility charges without any legal authority, as it had failed to meet its legal obligations to provide adequate services to consumers.

Later, Mr Siddiqui, along with MPA Abdul Waseem and MNA Hassan Sabir, told the media that the KE had become a “state within a state” and, instead of taking action against defaulters, it was penalising all of its consumers.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2024