PESHAWAR, Oct 30: Wapda and by extension its many distribution companies has been pulling many a fast one on its customers but there is one, which even modern day magicians cannot do; turning day into a night.

Surprised? Don’t be! This is how it is done. Pesco has installed digital meters in parts of Hayatabad. The meters are supposed to record day-time (off-peak hours) and the costly evening (peak hours) power consumption data.

But the digital meters supplied by a company called KBK, we are told, work the other way around due to some technical glitches. What it is does; and this may not be in all cases, we are told, is that it shows the evening (peak hours) as off-peak period and the off-peak period (morning to evening) as peak one. The result; consumers end up paying several thousand rupees more, depending on your actual power load.

So if you are getting inflated electricity bills and are surprised that you are not even operating fans, let alone air conditioners in October, this might as well be the reason.

The problem is quite endemic, we are told. Quite a few customers are seen visiting Pesco’s Hayatabad office. You have to make a few rounds, go up and down the stairs, get an inspector (if you are lucky) to accompany you to inspect the meter and then do all the paper work to get it done.

The problem is technical and not clerical, we are told. The meters get things upside down, we are told and the company has to be informed to fix it by a remote-controlled device. Quite a few meters have been fixed that way but still quite a few remain, that is the lucky ones who suspect that something is fishy, turn up at Pesco’s office to rectify the problem.

So, if you thought that if Wapda’s jacking up its utility rates to atone for its power losses and thefts was akin to robbing Peter to pay Paul, think again. This is not the only way you end up coughing up more. Watch your meters, too. — Bureau Report