Citizens in the federal capital have received inflated electricity bills this month coupled with fuel price adjustment and disconnection notices in case of not paying bills within due date.
“In addition to total cost of electricity worth Rs 1661.36 against 276 units consumed during the month of December 11, I was shocked to receive an electricity bill amounting to Rs 4,188 payable on January 13,” Bilal Khalid, a consumer of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) has claimed.
Giving further detail of the bill, he told APP that a hefty amount of Rs 2,197.89 as fuel price adjustment was included in the bill.
The consumers said that he was also charged Rs. 27.60 as meter rent,
Rs 35 as television fee, Rs 266 as General Sales Tax and Rs.312 as General Sales Tax Adjustment and claimed that the Company has already been charging fuel price adjustments in the previous monthly bills. Bilal Khalid said he was forced to pay Rs 4,188 against the actual consumed electricity amounting to Rs 1,661.36 saying, a common consumer cannot understand the formula under which the fuel price adjustment is calculated..
Another consumer, Muhammad Imran informed that the inflated electricity bill has disturbed his entire budget and termed the disconnection notices uncalled for.
Shopkeepers, traders and residents in a number of areas also complained that their electricity bills for December were higher by thousands of rupees than the ones for previous months as well as the ones issued for the same months last year.
Moreover, unannounced and unscheduled loadshedding has also made the life of common man miserable as their routine life has badly been affected.
Qamar Zaman, another consumer stated that his children spent several sleepless nights owing to unannounced load-shedding especially at the midnights.
Some government and private employees have also complained that they could not reach their offices in time owing to loadshedding in the morning. The consumers have asked the concerned authorities to look into the matter of inflated bills and also devise a comprehensive load management strategy and stop unannounced and unscheduled loadshedding to lessen miseries being faced by the consumers.