Hundreds of industrialists have decided to approach the court against the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC)’s recent move of disconnecting power supply to all factories having captive power plants.
The owners of over 500 industries will file a petition at the Sindh High Court against the power utility and have also recently obtained a stay over the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA)’s direction for restoration of supply to the industrial units affected.
Well-placed sources in the industrial sector told Pakistan Today that the affected industrialists, who have already rejected the KESC’s recent attempt to take undertaking-cum-indemnity papers made by the company saying it was sheer violation of NEPRA rules, would not accept the blackmailing tactics of the privately-run public utility.
As the Consumer Service Manual rules set by NEPRA are being bypassed by KESC through taking the undertaking, the industrialists would not accept it at any cost. The filled undertaking on a Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper was demanded to be submitted in order to restore power supply from the KESC.
According to an available copy of the ‘undertaking issued by KESC’, the company has demanded the industrial consumers to agree unconditionally to utilise the sanctioned load up to a minimum 50 percent and commence normal utilisation of power supply from the company to the satisfaction of KESC.
“The KESC shall be entitled to review my (consumer’s) performance under the undertaking on a monthly basis to ensure the consumer is complying with the above,” it was stated. “This undertaking is in addition to and not in derogation of any other rights or remedies that KESC may be entitled to under the law and in particular the provisions of the Consumer Service Manual issued by NEPRA and the provision of the Electricity Act, 1910.”
Meanwhile, the industrialists and KESC shareholders have rejected the move saying that the move was completely in violation of the NEPRA rules. “The KESC has no authority to include new rules and conditions in the already mentioned rules set by the authority concerned,” they said.
They feared that the company would continue violating and neglecting NEPRA rules if it was allowed to introduce the undertaking in the industrial sector, which pays billions of rupees to the company.
A consumer of B-3 category pays Rs 50,000 per month as minimum charges to the KESC.
The sources claimed that the KESC’s recent move would not force the industries to voluntarily stop running captive power units as they are regular consumers of Sui Southern Gas Company and pay the dues regularly.
Besides, the power company would also bear huge revenue losses under the disconnection move. “The management of KESC,” they said, “was going to have unnecessary confrontation with the industrialists – regular and important consumers of the company.”
