The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has asserted that all power Distribution Companies (Discos) except Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) breached T&D losses targets set by the regulator for 2017-18 which have financial impact of over Rs 45 billion. This was observed in the Performance Evaluation Report (PER) of Discos which provides trend analysis of data along with comparison of last four years, ie, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 & 2016-17.
Taking a holistic view of Discos' performance, Nepra has noted that no remarkable improvement in the performance of Discos particularly Pesco, Sepco, Hesco and Qesco has been observed. The fact remains that they have some inherent problems such as geographical issues, dilapidated distribution system, law & order situation, and political factors etc. which are the cause of their unsatisfactory performance. Similarly, the issue of data authenticity is still a major concern of Nepra as reported in previous PERs, and therefore, Nepra has already initiated strict action in the form of imposing penalties against such incorrect reporting by the distribution companies.
Nepra is endeavoring to make all Discos compliant with Performance Standards (Distribution) Rules PSDR 2005. From the data submitted by the Discos for the FY 2017-18 the regulator has noted with concern that during 2017-18, Discos contributed more than Rs 45 billion on account of T&D losses, whereas, they failed to make recovery of Rs 78 billion against bills charged of which the share of KE was about Rs 20 billion. Examination of T&D losses has revealed that none of the Discos except Iesco could meet regulator's expectations. The T&D losses of Pesco were 38.1% against 27.62% as allowed by Nepra. In the field of recovery of bills, Mepco and Iesco have shown better performance, whereas, Qesco with a recovery of 46.1% stood lowest among all the Discos during FY 2017-18.
System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI), System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI): The data reported by the Discos relates to SAIFI in FY 2017-18 and compares it to targets set by Nepra wherein it was observed that Iesco, Pesco, Fesco, Lesco, Qesco and K-Electric have shown some improvements whereas, Gepco, Mepco, Sepco and Hesco have not been able to achieve the targets. As regard to SAIDI, all the Discos have failed to achieve Nepra targets except Iesco, Fesco and Pesco. This analysis is based on the data/information provided by the Discos whose accuracy could not be ascertained.
Timeframe for new connection: Iesco submitted that it has provided 100% connections to the eligible consumers within the time prescribed in PSDR 2005, whereas, Pesco, Qesco, Sepco and K-Electric stated that they could provide 95% connections to the consumers who applied for new connections during FY 2017-18.
According to the regulator, its team during site visits to various Discos found that 100-400 connections per sub-division were pending for more than last six months. This fact is contrary to the claims made by Discos.
Loadshedding: Nepra has serious reservations over the authenticity of data regarding load shedding being carried out by Discos in their service territories. The data provided by Discos except Gepco & Qesco shows that duration of load shedding remained from 1.26 to 3.25 hours daily. In Nepra's opinion, this is not a realistic figure and the duration of load shedding must be for longer periods. Further, it is a matter of concern that Discos are not following the orders of load shedding according to different categories of consumers as provided in PSDR 2005. The situation worsens when consumers who were affected due to technical faults/breakdowns were forced to bear load shedding. KE has reported that it carried out average 1.26 hours load shedding on daily basis, which is not a factual position. Therefore, efforts should be made to compensate such consumers.
Consumer Complaints: The data provided by the distribution companies shows that except Gepco, Lesco and K-Electric, all other Discos did not receive even 2 complaints on average per center per day. It is noted that distribution systems of Pesco, Qesco, Hesco and KE seem very healthy as they have reported less than one fault per kilometer, which is far from the factual position as Nepra team during its on site visit found deteriorated condition of their distribution networks.
Further, the analysis of number of complaints received by Discos with respect to their total number of consumers reveals that except Gepco, Lesco and K-Electric, all other Discos received complaints ranging from 0.839% to 11.889% during FY 2017-18. This data is not rationalized as this was verified by Nepra team during visits of different Discos. Further, it is also observed that the redressal process of complaints in the Discos is too slow as compared to the number of complaints received by them.
Nepra being a regulator vigilantly observes the interests of consumers; therefore, Discos are being persistently advised to improve their complaint handling mechanism and provide relief to their consumers expeditiously.
Safety of the workmen is considered of paramount importance by Nepra. From previous history, it is evident that more than 100 fatal accidents occurred annually.
As regards the year under report, ie, FY 2017-18, 152 fatal accidents were reported of employees and public, which is 3.4% higher than previous year i.e. 2016-17. This indicates that there is a need for a change of mind set towards safety in Discos and development of safety culture in almost all their areas/segments. Nepra has been continuously pushing the distribution companies to perform better in this regard. It is noted with concern that no remarkable improvement in the performance was observed during the year 2017-18 especially in the areas of SAIFI, SAIDI, quality of supply (voltage & frequency), time frame for new connection, load shedding and consumer service complaints.
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