LANDI KOTAL: Installation of power meters faces stiff resistance from both commercial and industrial consumers in Khyber Agency as Tribal Areas Electricity Supply Company (Tesco) has so far failed to convince consumers about its benefits.
Tesco has in the recent past embarked upon its plan of installing electricity meters at industrial units in first phase and commercial centres and government buildings in the second phase.
The company, however, faced resistance from owners of industrial units in Jamrud and Bara while succeeded to a certain extent in installing meters at majority of the marble units in Malagori sub-tehsil.
Ikramullah Khan, the executive engineer of the company, told Dawn that recovery of monthly bills suddenly jumped from Rs4 million to almost Rs18 million per month from marble units in Malagori area only two months after installation of the meters.
Sources in Malagori said that prior to installation of meters, the owners of marble units would pay a fixed amount to Tesco officials on monthly basis to deprive the company of its legitimate revenue of millions of rupees. The amount was to be mutually agreed by unit owners and Tesco officials in accordance with the duration of time the unit would get electricity.
Industrialists both in Jamrud and Bara are now also demanding ‘a yearlong relief package’ prior to installation of meters at their industrial units. Sources in Shahkas locality of Jamrud, where most of the ice factories and iron furnaces are situated, told this scribe that at present every industrial unit paid Rs80,000 to Rs100,000 on monthly basis to officials of the power company.
Ikramullah Khan, however, said that his company was not involved in ‘illegal’ sale of electricity. He said that he and his staff could not sacrifice the interest of the company for their personal benefits.
“We would not have earnestly pushed for meterisation of industrial units if we were interested in personal benefits,” he insisted. He was optimistic that the issue in Bara and Jamrud would be resolved soon as Tesco had assured people of 15 hours of continuous power supply after installation of meters.
The official admitted that his company was so far unable to convince the businessmen and traders of Khyber Agency, especially shopkeepers in Landi Kotal, to install power meters at their outlets. He said that the company in collaboration with political administration held several meetings with traders of Landi Kotal but failed to convince them about the benefits of the plan.
Ikramullah Khan said that 96 per cent of their consumers were domestic users of electricity but none of them paid a single penny to the company.
Shopkeepers in Landi Kotal Bazaar told this scribe said that mistrust was one of the major reasons for their ‘stern’ refusal to install meters.
Haji Lal Rahim, the representative of local traders, said that they had no faith in assurances of Tesco officials about supply of electricity according to their requirements.
“Most of the shopkeepers have either installed solar panels or have been getting power supply from collectively installed generators,” said Mr Rahim. He said that the electricity they got from solar panels and generators was cheaper than that of Tesco.
Power supply to nearly 2,000 shops at Landi Kotal Bazaar has been suspended for over a year owing to shopkeepers’ refusal to install meters.
Mr Rahim said that as many as six collective generators were supplying electricity to hundreds of shops with a monthly bill ranging from Rs1,500 to Rs2,500 deepening on their consumption while the rest of the shopkeepers either relied on solar panels or personal generators.
He, however, indicated his willingness to agree to the Tesco plan of meterisation provided they were given firm assurances about scheduled supply of electricity and no legal action against defaulters.
Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2017