PESHAWAR: Peshawar Electric Supply Company on Monday claimed to have reduced its financial losses by Rs20 billion in the fiscal year 2024-25 — the first significant improvement in the last five years.

A Pesco spokesman, Usman Saleem claimed the ‘remarkable’ turnaround was result of the reforms initiatives and strong administrative measures adopted by the company’s board of directors and its chairman.

Pesco had been facing consistent financial setbacks over the past several years with financial losses having escalated from Rs42 billion in FY21 to Rs77 billion in FY22, to Rs109 billion in FY23, and to an alarming Rs142 billion in FY24.

However, by the end of FY25, these losses were successfully brought down to Rs122 billion — reflecting a saving of Rs22 billion compared to FY24.

Pesco Board of Directors chairman Himayatullah Khan appreciated the management for the tireless efforts in ‘steering’ the company out of the financial crisis.

“Despite having only 43pc of the required human resource to serve 4.5 million consumers, Pesco employees have continued to go above and beyond to serve their communities,” he said.

The spokesperson said Pesco had achieved a noticeable reduction in transmission and distribution losses — bringing the figure down to 36.81 per cent in the current fiscal year from 37.99 per cent in the previous year.

Simultaneously, the overall aggregate technical and commercial losses were reduced to 41.62pc in FY25 from 42.81pc in FY24.

Moreover, revenue collection from private consumers surged to an impressive 91.69pc from 90.6pc in the previous year, reflecting enhanced operational efficiency and consumer compliance, thus improving financial health of the company.

“One of the first major steps taken by the BoD chairman was introducing targeted policies for the industrial and commercial sectors. An exclusive 24-installment payment plan was offered to industries whose electricity connections were disconnected due to unpaid bills, paving the way for revival of operations and increased revenue for Pesco,” the spokesman said.

In addition, new industrial grids were constructed, and overloaded industrial feeders were bifurcated to ensure smooth electric supply.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2025