According to a Business Recorder news item carried by the newspaper yesterday, the Asian Development Bank (ABD) has said that up to 70 percent of the serviced population in Pakistan does not pay electricity bills, partly because of an inability to pay but also due to inefficiencies and rampant irregularities in billing and collection.

That the bank report constitutes a censure of our system or the way of governance is a fact. This also throws ample light on our inability to lead life of a law-abiding, responsible citizen.

The Bank has pointed out that Pakistan’s inadequate tariff regime is a complex issue, undermining the Discos financial sustainability. According to the Bank, “only the privatized K-Electric is financially sustainable.

The company used to suffer significant losses but recovered after privatization and has since operated from its revenue collections. Despite considerable resistance, it has succeeded in metering its expansive 6,500 kms service area, which goes beyond Karachi to five districts in Sindh and Balochistan, reducing electricity theft and a corresponding loss in income”.

In my view, however, the K-Electric is not a success story per se owing to a variety of reasons. The mirror-side of the K-Electric ‘’success “, for example, has become clear in Business Recorder newspaper’s own editorials that I as a loyal reader of this newspaper regularly read regularly and religiously.

The K-Electric is, therefore, is required to work harder in order to turn itself into a rare success story in the power sector of Pakistan. K-Electric is doing reasonably well, but there’s no reason for complacency.

Iqbal Mehdi (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024