While the management of Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) does not tire of crying for financial losses attributed to illegal connections, "Kunda" system etc, billing department of the public utility is issuing nominal fixed bills to customers, who consume thousands of units monthly. This was revealed by Chaudhry Mazhar General Secretary of KESC Shareholder Association (KESC-SHA).
In the month of October KESC billed thousands of units (from 5,046 to 17,486) consumed by its residential customers in some of the posh areas of this metropolis, like Defence Housing Authority etc, with a meagre amount ranging from Rs 309 to Rs 712, showed the statements.
A consumer who had a sanctioned load of 5046W had been billed from January to May, 2008, at 165 rupees per month and for June to September 2008 at 170 rupees per month. The general secretary said the consumers should have been billed at least around 10,000 to 15,000 rupees per month.
Another bill for a customer having sanction load of 6500W had billed around 300 rupees per month from January to September 2008. A third one showing the sanctioned load of 17486W, had been charged around 400 rupees each month from January to September 2008, which as the KESC-SHA official estimates, should have been billed around 25,000 to 30,000 rupees per month.
Mazhar also made available a bill of other area of the city that had a comparative the sanctioned Load of 1000W,billed with 2400 rupees, as the middle and lower class use less electricity but they have to pay the full charge for the consumed units.
"The new KESC Management, knowingly the electricity theft in these highly rich and developed areas, has turned a blind eye over such disgraceful acts, as its staffs are mostly involved," the general secretary said. Interestingly, the illegal means of power usage comes under high criticism as a cause of power outage, mostly in the less developed areas of the metropolis, but on the other hand the same things happen in posh areas with complete immunity.