Ministry of Water and Power Secretary Younus Dagha on Thursday informed the Public Accounts Committee that the ministry had referred cases of electricity defaulters to the National Accountability Bureau for an inquiry and recovery of the amount worth Rs of 2,46,900 million.
The decision was taken in a meeting with the NAB chairman and deputy chairman. According to the meeting minutes, the NAB would submit its report with regard to the recovery within one year, he said.
The meeting of the PAC was held at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Syed Naveed Qamar and reviewed the audit paras of ministry of water and power for the fiscal year of 2013-14.
During the meeting, the audit director general briefed that an amount of Rs 2,46,900 million was recoverable from defaulters in government and private sector. He said the PEPCO was facing financial difficulties in discharging its obligations towards power sector companies (PSCs) and independent power producers (IPPS).
As many as seven power distribution companies including FESCO, HESCO, LESCO, PESCO, QESCO, SEPCO and TESCO could not recover the said amount, he added.
The secretary informed the PAC that the ministry had directed all the distribution companies and also asked the NAB to help them for ensuring recovery as soon as possible.
He also claimed that the companies had made excellent recovery from electricity bills during the last year. The PAC also took up the audit para regarding loss due to non-recovery from consumers of kunda connections worth Rs of 595 million.
MNA Junid Anwaar Chaudhry asked the secretary that whether he took an action against the officials involved in theft of electricity as it was causing huge loss to the national exchequer.
Secretary Younus Dahga claimed that the ministry initiated actions against 55 gazetted officers who facilitated the culprits in theft of electricity. He said that out of which few officers were removed from service and suspended.
The HESCO chief informed the committee that Hyderabad police were not cooperating with them for registration of FIRs against the culprits. Replying about the audit paras of electricity theft in SEPCO and HESCO, the secretary said the ministry had reshuffled the Board of Directors (BoDs) of both companies and appointed chief commissioners of Sakhar and Hyderabad as member. By including administrator in the BoDs, theft activities could be decreased, he suggested.
