The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) dismissed the Power Division’s grievances about its overbilling investigation report which found serious issues with consumer billing. According to remarks made at two separate public hearings on Tuesday, the regulator also questioned the need to charge Rs. 30,000 for urgent meter connections but hinted at allowing 14 percent interest to consumers seeking installments, local media reported today. NEPRA members considered that at this point consumers wanted improved services from the government and its entities, for which they were already paying a big price. The Power Division and DISCOs under its management had expressed some concerns, claiming that meter readings over 30 days were not unusual. One member praised NEPRA’s findings in the report and recalled a similar situation in 2020, there were issues of 52-day overbilling for vacations, weekends, and so on, and the overbilled amounts had to be refunded to consumers. He recalled a NEPRA ruling from the period that the billing cycle might be less than 30 days but could not be longer than 30 days. Consumers and NEPRA members criticized the Power Planning and Managing Company for proposing an urgent fee for new connections, separate meters in the case of direct separate entrances to the house from the main road, enhancing detection bills for theft or meter tampering, and so on. The regulator was displeased over how 208,720 applications for new connections were pending but DISCOs demanded an urgent fee to set up a connection in just three days. The authority noted that 119,000 applications for new connections had been outstanding for more than 30 days, 55,600 had been pending for more than two months, while 31,600 had been pending for more than three months, and others for a year or more. NEPRA members said DISCOs should enhance their service and ensure normal connections within 30 days. It was also said at the public hearing that power companies had lost the trust of the general public. DISCOs will not be able to survive for long without some urgent structural changes such as privatization, public-private partnerships, and so on.

Source: Pro Pakistani