KARACHI – Shah Latif Town Block 20-C has a new power boss: Seher Electrical Services, a private contractor, has been providing electricity connections, installing meters, collecting bills from residents of the area and even penalising defaulters, Pakistan Today has learnt.
None of the revenue collected by the Seher Electrical Services goes to the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), as officials in the power utility claimed they had no information about this illegal practice.
Residents of the area, however, were introduced to the private contractor some three months ago. “A few people in the area claimed that were KESC contractors, and began installing a single meter in all houses for a fee of Rs 12,000,” a resident of the area, who requested anonymity, told Pakistan Today.
Seher Electrical Services laid out domestic wires to provide electricity to the area, as opposed to KESC’s practice of installing black cables instead of obsolete copper wires. But all said and done, the connections are fully functional and effective.
A representative of the Seher Electrical Services visits the area at the end of every month, narrated a resident of the area, who jots down the reading of the meters. A bill is subsequently issued, and residents are supposed to deposit payments at the contractor’s office in the area. The bill, however, is not printed on the KESC’s new format but on the old one.
“I was unable to pay the bill one month,” related another resident, “and decided to pay it in the next month. A representative of the Seher Electrical Services came to my house, and told me that the bill was overdue and that I had to pay in any case. I had to go to their office the next day, and clear the bill with a late fine of Rs 100,” he said.
One of Seher Electrical Services’ consumers tried to doctor the meter, but the company not only caught him but fined him Rs 30,000 and seized his meter.
Another resident said that although she followed the same system, it baffled her why KESC bills were being submitted to some contractor. “There is a notice at the bottom of each bill, which states that payments can only be made to Seher Electrical Services,” she said.
When Pakistan Today approached the KESC for a comment, spokesperson Amin-ur-Rehman argued that the power utility does not hand any contracts pertaining to money to any entity. “Only banks are allowed to handle financial dealings of the KESC,” Rehman categorically stated. “The KESC is only issuing new-design bills to its consumers, and old bills are not being issued anymore.”
Commenting on the cost of the single meter being charged by Seher Electrical Services, Rehman said the price should vary between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000 but not more. He added that the KESC is not installing domestic wires in any part of the city, and is also replacing old copper wires with new heavy-duty cables.
SHO Mulazim Hussain of the said area expressed his complete ignorance when Pakistan Today asked him to comment, claiming that he was “out of station and could only answer in detail when he returns.”
