Sindh government heaves a sigh of relief

After an immediate intervention by the center, Hyderabad Electric Supply Corporation (Hesco) has to withdraw its new bill of Rs 25 billion issued to the Sindh government for the period 2010-2012, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The Sindh government will now pay Hesco Rs 2.5 billion outstanding electricity dues against the billing of more than Rs 25 billion, sources said. A dispute between Hesco and Sindh’s authorities was going on for the last couple of years over the billing claims of the corporation. However, the Sindh claimed that bills were inflated and based on average billing.
Hesco, after a long fight, again issued inflated bills of Rs 25 billion for just two years. Ironically, the electricity bills that the Sindh’s authorities received include defective meters having nothing to do with the government.
Hesco had issued bills of Rs 25.8 billion from 2003-04 to June 2010 to the Sindh government’s department, however, the bills were termed inflated and a clash-like situation arose between the two authorities.
Moreover, the chief minister and the chief secretary repeatedly approached the center to intervene into the matter and resolve it but to no avail. In October 2010, finally in a bid to settle the long running dispute, the two entities constituted field committees to properly scrutinise details of the bills. The field committees evaluated the electricity bills issued to the sub-department of the provincial government in various districts excluding Karachi. The Sindh government had previously claimed that the power utility issued them inflated electricity bills of Rs 27 billion. However, the Hesco claimed that bills were perfectly valid and accurate. Feeling the issue was difficult to get resolved, the management of the corporation insisted that records had been destroyed during riots in the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. In 2006, Hesco issued electricity bills of Rs 8 billion to the Sindh government for more than 27,000 electricity meters of various departments. The provincial authorities refused to accept the validity of the billing. The initial amount has mounted with the passage of time.
Hesco issued bills of Rs 100 million to water supply and sewerage projects at Matli and Hali Road. Similarly, it dispatched two electricity bills of Rs 100 million to the Cattle Colony of Hyderabad having two electricity connections although Cattle Colony has yet to be developed.
These actions lend credence to voices alleging the deliberate inflation of bills. Furthermore, the sources state the Sindh government was presently accepting only Rs 2 billion of the dues. After the proper verification of the bills, the claim of Hesco for more than Rs 25.8 billion from 2003-04 to June 2010 was settled down at Rs 3.9 billion with the concerted efforts of the Sindh’s authorities, sources told Pakistan Today.
“The liabilities of Hesco & Sepco is a long-standing issue which has unjustifiably given a bad name to the Sindh government. Due to concerted efforts of the government, in September 2011 the billing claim of 25.8 billion from 2003-04 to June 2010 was settled at Rs 3.9 billion only and Rs 21.9 billion were saved by the people’s government”, Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had told the Sindh Assembly while presenting Sindh Budget 2012-13.
“As a part of settlement, Rs 1.3 billion has been paid against 7,751 healthy connections in addition to the budgetary allocation of Rs 6 billion. Against 7,517 unmetered/defective connections, payment is being worked out on the basis of actual load of each of these connections as a full and final settlement”, the minister added.
Subsequently, the sources claimed the Hesco had issued a fresh claim of Rs 25 billion from June 30, 2010, up to April 2012, adding the settlement claim was under process and it was hoped the matter would be resolved. Moreover, the Hesco authorities had been asked to strike off at least 8,052 connection wrongly claimed as GoS connections, from their books, the sources said, adding that now the Hesco was insiting on the same bills of Rs 25 billion that the Sindh refused to pay.