ISLAMABAD: The power ministry said on Tuesday, it had recovered Rs55 billion from electricity consumers that had either not paid their bills or were involved in theft, as part of a campaign to reduce losses and improve the sector’s performance.
The ministry said it had collected Rs46 billion from Sept. 7 to Oct. 31 and another Rs9 billion in November so far, through detection charges and arrears recovery from delinquent consumers.
Rashid Langrial, secretary of Power Division, said the November data includes detection charges and arrears recovery but does not include the financial impact of the theft reduction drive.
“In this recovery effort, LESCO led with Rs10 billion, followed by PESCO with Rs9 billion,” Langrial said on his social media platform X. “In the process, we had arrested 29,541 delinquent consumers and 20 employees and had suspended another 272 employees including officers.”
The breakup shows Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) is on top of the list with a recovery of over Rs10 billion. The Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) is ranked second on the list with a Rs9 billion recovery.
Langrial said the ministry had also raised detection charges of over Rs5 billion. “Most of the theft variance in large swathes of the Indus plain, is associated with cooling load and a local sense of impunity,” he added.
“Therefore, as winter approaches, the monthly payoff of the anti-theft campaign compared to the previous year would fall as the incentive for theft is even otherwise not very high.”
Electricity theft or not receiving the bills is costing the country nearly Rs589 billion a year, according to the caretaker government. Theft has helped keep Pakistan’s power sector mired in debt, struggling to upgrade an aging electricity grid network prone to frequent blackouts. This has weighed on a economy already grappling with galloping inflation, a weakening currency and a huge budget deficit.
The caretaker administration has set up special task forces on the provincial and district levels to combat massive electricity theft. The problem, which is more rampant in certain areas of the country than others, has forced successive governments to raise power tariffs to curtail losses.
Meanwhile, PESCO Engineers Association posted a tweet saying that the effort must continue and that the government must also reward hardworking employees who are facing abuse and torture at the hands of influential people.
“PESCO is operating with only 30 percent staff and its consumer base has crossed 4 million mark. Consumer facilitation in all services is missing.”
