PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Sunday, made some welcome announcements aimed at bringing transparency in electricity meter reading and providing relief to consumers, who are once again protesting against the unbearable burden of power bills with the onset of summer season as the issue has become a source of economic strangulation of the masses.
He pledged that his government would never discourage the country’s solarisation boom, as he launched the ‘Power Smart’ mobile app to empower citizens and promote transparency in electricity billing under the ‘Apna Meter, Apni Reading’ initiative. The Prime Minister also announced to abolish the Pakistan Television (PTV) fee of Rs. 35 from the monthly bills.
The pronouncements of Shehbaz Sharif reflect concern of the elected Prime Minister vis-à-vis difficulties of the people and a will to address through provision of relief and adoption of the technology. Introduction of an App to empower consumers to feed the meter reading to the system themselves will surely go a long way in addressing complaints of the people about wrong and inflated billing. Unfortunately, complaints about wrong billing persisted despite the practice to print a snapshot of the reading in the bill because of the alleged manipulation by meter readers. Similarly, it is on record that in some regions actual reading is taken in one month and consumers are charged on the basis of presumptive reading for the next month, which is invariably much higher than the actual consumption for the month, requiring readjustments in subsequent months. The ‘Power Smart’ app introduced under the ‘Apna Meter Apni Reading’ initiative is designed to empower consumers by allowing them to take a photograph of their electricity meter on a specified date and upload it to the app. The monthly bill will then be generated based on the uploaded image and if a user provides a reading on the designated due date, that reading will be prioritized over any reading taken later by a utility employee. This seems to be an effective way of ensuring transparency in reading but apparently the specific person who has downloaded the App will have to ensure his/her presence at the premises of the meter on the designated date.
For the convenience of the people, more than one family member should be allowed to download the APP and register their meter numbers. As for removal of the PTV fee, the move is symbolic in view of the fact that almost all consumers receive bills in thousands and removal of Rs. 35 will hardly make any difference. The Prime Minister, however, deserves credit for abolishing the levy as was done by the then PML(N) Government in waiving the Radio license fee. At that time, while taking the decision, the Government had committed to meet financial requirements of the PBC (Radio Pakistan) but the pledge has not been upheld in its true spirit and as a consequence its employees and pensioners suffer hugely. There was not much burden on individual consumers but the PTV was earning significantly through this fee and now it has been left at the mercy of bureaucrats, who interpret things in a whimsical manner as far as corporations are concerned. It is also hoped that the commitment of the Prime Minister to continue promoting solarization will be honoured in letter and spirit and rules and regulations will not be altered to the harm of consumers. The PM rightly identified the widening gap between high electricity production capacity and lower grid consumption due to solar adoption as a challenge to the government. Instead of penalizing those investing in plans to produce cheaper electricity for their homes, the Government, which has surplus electricity, should encourage consumption rather than sticking to the oppressive slab system that mints money once meter goes beyond 200 units in a month. This is the worst kind of exploitation of the consumers and that too by an elected Government. This draconian pricing mechanism must be reversed forthwith; otherwise people will continue to be pushed towards grid or off-grid solar systems as part of their efforts to save money for other household needs.
