LAHORE: Bill correction in terms of misreading of electricity meters is 0.5 percent of total consumers of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) network, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Muhajid Pervaz Chattah. While talking to this scribe, he said total 51,87,194 consumers had consumed 23528.33 million kWh units during 2019-20 at the LESCO network out of which 158 million kWh units of 69,050 consumers were adjusted against an amount of Rs2,747 million.
He said since the electricity tariff has been on the higher end over the last few years, the consumers mix it with misreading of electricity meters. "Any bill beyond the reach of a consumer is dubbed as over-billing," he said. He said the data of the last two years suggests that the volume of bill correction is far lower than the actual number of consumers on the LESCO network.
According to him, one former senior officer had also turned up with a complaint of over-billing. The LESCO management checked his meter reading, its accuracy, but everything was in a perfect mode. However, the senior officer was still adamant to complain that the bill is incorrect, he pointed out.
The LESCO chief though admitted that there are examples of over-billing but when you compare the total number of LESCO consumers, it is not too big in terms of percentage.
He said the LESCO is the biggest electricity supply company in terms of volume of sales and demand for electricity in the country. Even the K-Electric does not match with LESCO on this standard, he added.
He said LESCO has taken a number of steps to improve the situation regarding billing complaints, including a vibrant Central Complaints Cell which remains operational 24/7 at the LESCO headquarters with a dedicated team. It also deals with complaint received from different channels. He said the team members are effectively monitoring/coordinating for resolution of complaints received through electronic as well as written channels.
At the Circle level, he said, focal persons have also been designated for swift coordination with field teams. Customer Service Centres at Circle level entertain all types of complaints. Also, complaints are entertained through online channels.
Most of the complaints relate to power supply issues, low voltage problem, billing issues, delay in new connections, etc, he said. Besides, he pointed out that he was also holding weekly E-Katcheries to redress the public grievances. When asked about the frequency of mobile meter reading with snaps, he said 99% of electricity connections are covered through mobile reading.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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