Confusion hits power consumers’ relief process

LAHORE:The mismanagement and lack of coordination led to creating confusion among the power consumers, delaying the relief given to them by the federal and provincial governments. A plethora of responses over relief being provided to inflation-hit electricity consumers overshadowed the whole process.

Adding controversy, the website of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) crashed following rushing of customers for accessing revised power bills. Perturbed by unbearably high cost of electricity, people were panicked and wanted to see subsidised bills. Resultantly, the official website had been down for over 24 hours until Friday morning as its link was not accessible to consumers. Hence, people could not check status of their respective bills and its subsequent downloading.

The flawed system continued to haunt customers who were stuck in non-receipt of online bills, adding to the woes of consumers. Due to a technical fault in the website, access to database of the online bills were stopped. The reprinting of the revised bills after inclusion of relief on the instructions of the Punjab Chief Minister become a non-starter, constraining the whole process for millions of consumers.

The Punjab government is paying a hefty amount of Rs45 billion for a relief package for domestic electricity consumers living in the province and federal capital, which includes a subsidy of Rs14 per unit for those using 201 to 500 units of electricity in the months of August and September.

Additionally, the federal government has extended the due date for electricity bills by ten days. However, it seems that Lesco management has been clueless about unprecedented situation haunting consumers regarding delay in providing relief and unaware of its implications.

Meanwhile, Lesco management initiated a process for re-dispatching updated bills to consumers in addition to updating them online. However, according to sources, updated bills couldn't be linked with banks' database keeping in view past practices. So, it is feared that all revised bills will have to be paid manually by the consumers, adding further burden on them.

Many power consumers are still receiving bills on the basis of controversial system of so-called Pro-Rata Consumption. They complained that they are continued to receive Pro-Rata based present reading instead of recorded.

Some consumers complained that there was no extension in due date or relief from provincial government in their August electricity bills. Lesco did succeed in revising power bills having monthly consumption between 201 to 500 unit. One consumer confirmed that he was given subsidy as per announcement of provincial government on August bill. It was mentioned on my bill out of current due payment of Rs27,838, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has paid Rs6,314 and now I need to pay only Rs21,524.

For less than 201 units ‘lifeline’ consumers, the due date for bill payment has been extended by 10 days as per announcement made by the federal government. It is worth mentioning here that the electricity billing system has often been a source of frustration and dissatisfaction among consumers. They used to face inaccurate billing. Many consumers report discrepancies between their actual usage and the amounts billed. This can lead to overcharges or undercharges.

Moreover, in areas where meter readers cannot access properties regularly, estimated readings are used. This can result in inaccurate bills. Furthermore, consumers often find it difficult to understand the breakdown of charges on their bills, including surcharges and taxes. They are subjected to late payments surcharge resulting in hefty penalties, which can be burdensome for many consumers.

When contacted, a Lesco spokesperson did not deny crashing of official website. However, he was reluctant to offer any further comment. As per announcement made by the Lesco, a complaint cell has been established under the supervision of its Director Rana Rizwan Sibghatullah. This cell is working day and night to resolve the complaints of electricity consumers. Out of the received complaints, only 643 were facing some delay and they would be resolved at the earliest. There was an effective complaint resolution system within Lesco under which consumers were being facilitated, he insisted.