ISLAMABAD, May 7: The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has started online billing service in the capital in collaboration with Askari Commercial Bank (ACB).

The service was formally launched at a ceremony by water and power minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao here on Friday.

The Iesco chief executive officer, Brig Shahbaz Azam, ACB president Kaleemur Rehman and some parliamentarians also attended the function. The minister was told that Iesco was the first electric supply company in the country which had started online billing service.

Mr Sherpao said almost all electric supply companies would start the same service in their respective districts by the year end. He said the new service would help consumers pay their bills through internet even after office timings. This will reduce burden on consumers as well as banks, by minimizing the trend of long queues for paying bills, he added.

He said 11 more grid stations and 50 11-KV feeders would be installed in Islamabad during the next five years to supply power to remote areas. Besides, four new grid stations, including 132- KV Gondal Grid Station and 220-KV University Grid Station, are being completed, he added.

The minister lauded Iesco's performance and said the company was working well with lowest rate of line losses, that were below 10 per cent. He said the company had supplied power to 691 villages at the cost of Rs498 million and work was underway for electrification of 353 more villages in Islamabad.

"Under the MNA programme, power has been supplied to 140 villages and electrification of another 120 is in progress," he added. Similarly, power has been supplied to 47 villages in Islamabad under prime minister's directives, and electrification of 47 others is underway.

Mr Sherpao said a Rs220 million project for upgradation of power supply system and changing of single phase into three-phase had been started. He aid a 50-bed hospital was being established at sector H-8 at the cost of Rs50 million to provide better medical facilities to Iesco employees.

The work on the project will be started soon, and Rs5 million has been allocate for the current fiscal year. Speaking on the occasion, Iesco chief executive officer said the company had provided 24-hour online billing service to its consumers.

He said the company would pay Rs2 to the ACB for each bill to be paid through the bank, and no extra charges would have to be paid by the consumers.