ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that overbilling is unacceptable, and strict action would be taken against officials involved in overbilling.
A review meeting on the performance of electricity distribution companies was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, in which federal ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Sardar Owais Ahmed Khan Leghari, state ministers Shiza Fatima, Ali Pervaiz Malik, the Prime Minister’s Coordinator Rana Ihsan Afzal, and other senior government officials participated.
The meeting discussed the issues of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), and the participants were given a detailed briefing on the performance of these companies.
The briefing revealed that as of November 2024, LESCO’s recovery rate was 96.82%, PESCO’s recovery rate was 87.98%, and FESCO’s recovery rate was 97.57%. LESCO needs to install 223,365 three-phase smart meters, of which 49,470 have already been installed.
It was further mentioned that PESCO needs to install 152,559 smart meters, with 51,173 already installed, while FESCO has installed 11,276 smart meters out of 192,311. Free access to the helpline 118 is being ensured for all phone operators dealing with electricity-related complaints.
The briefing also highlighted that LESCO, PESCO, and FESCO customers have access to call centers, emails, websites, interactive voice response, and NEPRA’s mobile and web services for complaint resolution and other services. As of November this year, LESCO resolved 99.2%, PESCO resolved 99.9%, and FESCO resolved 99.7% of complaints.
PM Shehbaz directed that the installation of smart meters be completed as soon as possible to bring transparency to the billing system and that concrete measures be taken to prevent electricity theft.
The PM expressed concern over the slow pace of appointing CEOs for electricity distribution companies and stated that the process should be completed quickly through a transparent procedure.
Shehbaz Sharif further emphasized that recruitment in electricity distribution companies should be merit-based, and no negligence in the recruitment process will be tolerated. He also stressed that all resources should be utilized to meet the targets set by NEPRA.
