Raza Rabbani wants action against Discos overcharging consumers

Liaquat Ali

Islamabad: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mian Raza Rabbani Tuesday condemned alleged malpractices including overcharging by power distribution companies (Discos) and calls it a criminal activity.

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) investigation revealed widespread overcharging by the companies.

Rabbani demanded that law-enforcement agencies initiate legal action against Discos. He also demanded adjustment of overcharged amounts on user bills and inclusion of Nepra report in the Senate.

He said the CEOs of the Discos should be placed on the ECL.

The report exposed discrepancies in metre readings, billing periods, and defective meters, affecting millions of consumers. K-Electric defends its practices, while Nepra recommends legal action and bill corrections within one billing cycle.

According to the Nepra report, the malpractice shifted 840,000 users from the protected category, with over 52,800 consumers now classified as non-lifeline.

Mepco overcharged 7.99 million consumers, and other companies like Gepco, Fesco, Lesco, Hesco, Sepco, Pesco, Qesco, and Iesco also had billing issues.

KE’s 78,000 consumers in July and 66,000 in August received inaccurate bills. In total, 10.68 million consumers were billed for over 30 days, some even beyond 40 days, and over 0.4 million were billed on defective meters.