K-Electric accused of overbilling govt institutions

KARACHI: Sindh Energy Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that K-Electric has overbilled the provincial government by billions of rupees over the past 10 years, ARY News reported

In a statement issued here, the energy minister said that K-Electric has charged the Sindh government’s departments an additional Rs 20 billion during the last 10 years.

“An audit conducted revealed an overbilling of over Rs 2 billion during last year alone,” Syed Nasir Hussain Shah added.

The energy minister went on to say that to prevent overbilling, the provincial government had also billions of rupees to the KE for the installation of smart meters but to no avail.

“The KE has yet to install smart meters at Sindh government’s departments despite receiving billions of rupees,” Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said.

The minister said that smart meters would have provided real-time data and prevented overbilling.

“What will be the state of citizens when government institutions are overcharged for billions of rupees?” the minister said.

He also announced that a joint committee will also be formed to protect citizens from KE’s overbilling. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that the Sindh government will ensure that the people of Karachi are not affected by the company’s overbilling practices.

Earlier on May 22, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that overbilling and unannounced power loadshedding should come to an end.

Speaking at the floor of the Sindh Assembly, Sindh’s energy minister said that a meeting has also held with the federal government over the power load shedding.

The minister said that a meeting will be held in Karachi on Friday over complaints against the K-electric.

“We are on the side of the people of the province and taking action according to the procedure. We could not take over the K-electric”, he said.