Hesco issues 'inflated' bills of Rs 12 billion to Sindh government departments

The Sindh government has claimed that the Hyderabad Electric Supply Co (Hesco) had issued "inflated" electricity bills of Rs 12 billion to all its departments in interior Sindh. Officials told Business Recorder on Tuesday that Hesco's outstanding dues were based on wrong figures, and it failed to prove its claim in a meeting held recently in Lahore.
Sindh government consultant Ashfaque Hussain Shah and Hesco Chief Executive Karim Bux Qureshi discussed the issue for amicable settlement and Sindh government officials presented the details of inflated bills. But the Hesco officials insisted that records had been destroyed during riots on Benazir's assassination.
Hesco says that outstanding dues of Rs 12 billion are pending against the provincial government from January 2005 to January 2008. It persistently puts pressures through the federal government for clearing the dues or be ready for funds deduction at source, officials said.
Hesco had issued bills of Rs 100 million for water supply and sewerage projects at Matli and Hali Road. It dispatched two electricity bills of Rs 100 million to the Cattle Colony of Hyderabad for two electricity connections, although the cattle colony has yet to be developed, the officials said, expressing astonishment.
The officials said that beside inflated bills, the Hesco is also issuing 25 percent deduction bills to all departments and the amount has reached Rs 2 billion. Similarly, 10 percent charges have been imposed on the bills because of non-payment within due date. Hesco has issued electricity bills of Rs 2.75 billion to some 3,000 tube-wells of Scarp. However, the provincial government has agreed to pay Rs 400 million, which it terms as actual amount.