Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday ordered that solid steps should be taken to stop incidents of electricity theft in the country while expressing displeasure over the slow process for appointment of CEOs of DISCOs, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The prime minister said this while chairing a meeting held in Islamabad to review the performance of the power distribution companies (DISCOs). The deliberations centred on the affairs of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
The prime minister also ordered the completion of the installation of smart meters at the earliest so that billing could be made transparent. “Overbilling cannot be tolerated come what may. And the responsible officers will face action,” he said categorically.
Shehbaz Sharif expressed concern over the delay in the appointment process of chief executive officers (CEOs) of the distribution companies and directed for ensuring CEOs’ appointments through a highly transparent process and asked for its completion at the earliest.
Recruitment of workforce in distribution companies should be merit-based, with no compromise on transparency, he further said and added all the available resources should be utilized to meet the targets of NEPRA.
Minister for Economic Affairs Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Power Division Sardar Owais Ahmad Khan Leghari, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervez Malik, Prime Minister’s Coordinator Rana Ahsan Afzal, and senior government officials attended the meeting.
The meeting was given a detailed briefing on the achievement of targets which included recovery rates (up to November of FY 2024-25): LESCO: 96.82%, PESCO: 87.98% and FESCO: 97.57%.
Transmission and distribution losses (up to November of FY 2024-25) in these companies remained at: LESCO: 13.04%, PESCO: 33% and FESCO: 6.01%.
The meeting was also apprised of the smart meter installation progress:
LESCO: Out of 223,365 three-phase smart meters, 49,470 had been installed.
PESCO: Out of 152,559 smart meters, 51,173 have been installed.
FESCO: Out of 192,311 smart meters, 11,276 have been installed.
LESCO, PESCO, and FESCO offered consumers’ facilities for complaint resolution and other services via call centres, emails, websites, interactive voice response (IVR) systems, and NEPRA’s mobile and web services.
Moreover, free access to the 118 helpline from all mobile operators was being ensured for complaints related to electricity transmission, it was further added.
The complaint resolution (up to November) stood at: LESCO: 99.2%, PESCO: 99.9% and FESCO: 99.7%.
Reporter: Awais Kiani