K-Electric chairman resigns from his post; PSX apprised

KARACHI: Chairman K-Electric Riyadh S. A. A. Edrees on Tuesday resigned from his post as the power company conveyed the decision to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), ARY NEWS reported.

Riyadh S. A. A. Edrees was appointed chairman of the K-Electric in April this year, besides joining the KE Board in November 2005 at the time of privatization of the power company and acted as a Board member till May 2009. Edrees rejoined KE Board in July 2019.

The outgoing chairman was replaced by Shan A. Ashary.

According to details available on the new chairman on the K-Electric website, he has been a Non-Executive Director of the Company since its privatisation in November 2005.

He currently serves on the boards of several companies in the US and the Middle East. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

It is pertinent to mention here that the K-Electric is under pressure due to its miserable performance during the recent spell of rainfall in the city.

On August 18, the Supreme Court of Pakistan also directed the federal government to take action against K-Electric over unjust load-shedding in Karachi.

Read More: NEPRA slaps Rs200 mn fine on K-Electric over excessive load shedding

In a written order issued by the apex court over a hearing at the Karachi registry regarding load-shedding carried out by the power utility, the Supreme Court termed the procedure of power outages adopted by the K-Electric as unnecessary.

“Non-payment of dues by a consumer should not result in suffering for the entire area,” the court ruled and directed the federal government to take action against the power utility for carrying out unnecessary load shedding.

Reservations have also emerged from consumers regarding over-billing, the apex court noted in its written order and added that consumers have blamed the power utility for charging more money in the bills than consumed electricity units.