THE National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Wednesday took notice of complaints regarding continuing unannounced load-shedding in Karachi and directed the power utility to submit a detailed report in this regard. In a statement, it also noted that inflated electricity bills are also charged to consumers, seeking a detailed report from the company on an immediate basis.
It is fundamental responsibility of NEPRA to take prompt action to safeguard interests of consumers all over the country. It has the mandate and legal powers to do so but in the past it adopted a passive approach and on occasions one got an impression of extending undue favours to power companies at the cost of interest of the consumers. The issue of power shortage and outage is not new in Karachi but its intensity in recent days was not understandable as industrial and commercial activities were subdued requiring less electricity but KE is apparently unable even to meet the reduced demand. There have been prolonged outages of electricity extending up to 20 hours in some areas sparking protests from the residents. It is strange that elsewhere in the country the power supply position has improved after addition of more electricity to the national grid but KE has not yet fulfilled its commitment of investing in power generation to cope with the situation. Apart from woes of the people, Karachi being hub of industrial and commercial activities of the country cannot afford this state of affairs for a long time. NEPRA and Power Ministry ought to take up the issue of power generation in right earnest with KE besides addressing genuine complaints of inflated bills. KE claims it is experiencing inconsistent supply of furnace oil and this aspect may also be looked into on a priority basis by the relevant officials. The power utility has long been claiming to have initiated measures to ensure long-term improvement in its generation fleet’s efficiency and reliability but ground situation contradicts this claim. Hopefully, NEPRA’s investigations would lead to mitigation of suffering of KE consumers.
