The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the Federation through the Secretary of Ministry of Water and Power (MoWP) as well as electricity distribution companies (Discos) in a civil miscellaneous petition regarding over- charging of electricity bills from consumers.
A single-member bench headed by Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition filed by Abdul Rehman S. Alvi, pleading before the court to make him party in the case filed by top brass of the PTI, including Asad Umar, Arif Alvi and Shireen Mazari who had alleged that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and Discos were overcharging consumers every month to maximise their revenue, pleading to take legal action against the authorities involved in over billing.
During the proceeding, Abdul Rehman S. Alvi argued before the court that the said bench has already directed the federal government to provide relief to electricity consumers, who were overcharged by the Discos during the months of August and September of 2014, however, the government has not given any relief to power consumers.
He prayed before the court to accept the petition for hearing and issued directives to respondents to issue electricity bills to consumers afresh. The bench after hearing arguments accepted the petition for hearing and issued notices to respondents, directing them to submit their reply on the matter. Later, the court adjourned the proceeding of the matter with date in office.
Earlier, the court barred power distribution companies (Discos) from collecting additional charges on electricity tariff while hearing the PTI leadership petition. The PTI maintained in the petition that Nepra and Discos have been issuing inflated bills every month that is unjustified and especially, Discos have charged excessive bills for the month of August and September 2014 without prior information and any legal justification. However, the Ministry of Water and Power told the court that electricity consumers have not been overcharged during July, 2014.
The ministry further told the court that excessive use of electricity due to low load shedding during the holy month of Ramazan and removal of subsidy on electricity by the government, were the main reasons behind increase in electricity bills for the months. Besides, a report of power distribution companies (Discos) was also submitted to the court, stating that consumers' complaints about over-billing have been resolved.