Islamabad: Despite having pumped hundreds of billions of rupees to clear the circular debt build-up in the electricity sector, the government is yet to show any urgency for the clearance of a staggering Rs445bn of receivables owed to electricity distribution companies across the country.
The major chunk of Rs325bn receivables was due from the private sector whereas the government organisations have to pay Rs120bn to electricity companies operating throughout the country.
The main reason for the government’s failure to recover the money is political expediency. It is too early to determine whether the PML-N government would also avoid touching the influential defaulters.
The Quetta Electricity Supply Company leads in terms of its receivables which over the years have accumulated to Rs88bn.
The private sector has played a major role in bringing the company to its knees by refusing to pay its bills which as of October this year stood at Rs81bn followed by Rs7bn owed by the government.
The Peshawar Electricity Supply Company is the next which is also struggling to recover Rs85bn. Here too, the private sector has outstanding bills of Rs58bn against them, whereas Rs27 billion is owed by the public sector.
The receivables of the Sukkur Electricity Power Company are Rs70bn, including Rs45bn from the private sector and Rs25bn from public sector.
The Hyderabad Electricity Power Company is to recover Rs44bn, including Rs27bn from the government and Rs17bn from private consumers.
The Lahore Electricity Supply Company has Rs43bn outstanding – Rs38bn against the private sector and Rs5bn against government organisations.
The Islamabad Electricity Supply Company has to recover Rs22 from the government and Rs4bn from the private sector.
The Multan Electricity Power Company has Rs31bn outstanding against the private sector and Rs2bn against the government.
