NEPRA pursues 71 excessive billing cases against DISCOs, NA told

In a reply to a query from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Sharmila Faruqui, the NEPRA authority added that it may impose fines on DISCOs in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations once the proceedings are concluded.

According to NEPRA, fines have already been imposed on DISCOs for various other violations.

The National Assembly was informed that from July to August 2023, DISCOs issued excessive bills to consumers beyond the billing cycle (i.e., 30/31 days), affecting a total of 4,106,318 consumers.

Following the necessary investigation and NEPRA’s subsequent directions, consumers’ bills were revised using a pro-rata mechanism in cases where the billing period exceeded 30/31 days.

Later, during the period from April to June 2024, DISCOs applied the pro-rata mechanism for both cases where the meter reading was taken for more or less than 30/31 days.

As a result of the negative pro-rata application, the categories of 1,192,602 consumers were changed again.

According to NEPRA, it conducted another investigation and issued directives for the correction of bills. “As a result, all bills were revised, and the affected consumers were provided with the appropriate relief.”

 

Earlier, K-Electric (KE) was highlighted as the distribution company with the highest number of fatalities in a report released by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) for the fiscal year 2023-24.

According to the report, K-Electric’s service areas witnessed 34 fatal incidents, including the deaths of 32 citizens and 2 employees.

The NEPRA report detailed a total of 140 fatal accidents across regions managed by various power distribution companies. Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) reported 26 fatalities, while Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) followed with 20, Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) with 18, and Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) with 9 incidents.