This may be surprising for many but nevertheless it has emerged that the power companies, which are often subjected to criticism for severing meter connections of defaulting consumers and blaming them for the power theft, themselves owe billions of rupees to different organisations, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

According to the documents available to 24News, the power companies such as PEPCO and K-Electric have still to pay over Rs5.50 billion to the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) under the head of fee.

The documents disclose that while PEPCO has to pay over Rs5.50 billion to the PTV, K-Electric owes Rs440 million to the organisation.

Meanwhile, the auditor general of Pakistan (AGP) has issued directives for settling the issue of payment of arrears at the ministerial level.

It is reminded here that the power companies charge Rs35 per month from domestic consumers while Rs60 from commercial ones.

Reporter Zeeshan Bhatti