Dozens of consumers of the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) registered their complaints – unresolved by the power utility – at the public hearing of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Tuesday, but remained skeptical about the authority’s will to address them.
The consumers, who registered their complaints about excessive/average billing, meter faults, connection and disconnection cases and other technical issues, also questioned NEPRA’s ability to swiftly sort out these issues.
During the second day of the public hearing against KESC’s petition for a tariff increase, NEPRA high-ups asked the KESC management as to why the company is hesitant to address the complaints. The authority also suggested consumers to directly send their complaints to it.
The hearing, organised by the authority at the NIPA office, was attended by NEPRA Chairman Khalid Saeed and other members of the body including Shoukat Kundi, Ghiasuddin and Akbar Khilji. Many consumers from the industrial, commercial and domestic sectors were also there to oppose the KESC’s petition and register their complaints.
Most consumers lamented that the power utility was forcing consumers to pay excessive average bills or face disconnection. “Despite the hue and cry raised by the affected consumers, NEPRA did not take notice of the KESC’s illegal practices,” a complainant told Pakistan Today after the hearing.
“The authority, which is supposed to protect the rights of the consumer, mostly seems to favouring the private power company,” he added.
