ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has set a deadline of December 31, 2025 for provincial chief secretaries to clear reconciled outstanding dues of power distribution companies (DISCOs), official sources told Business Recorder.
According to the sources, the Minister for Power has been directed to communicate with the chief secretaries of the respective provinces for the urgent clearance of DISCOs’ receivables pending against provincial departments’ electricity bills and submit a finalized report to the prime minister within two weeks. All provincial chief secretaries have been instructed to ensure resolution of the issue by December 31, 2025.
Commenting on the issue, Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Leghari said the current stock of outstanding dues against provinces stands at Rs166 billion. He added that the federal government deducted Rs20 billion at source last year under the decision of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), which allows the federal government to deduct 25 percent of the reconciled amount.
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The issue of non-payment of electricity dues by the Sindh government also came under discussion. The Chief Executive Officer of Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO) informed the meeting that the company is supplying electricity to certain areas under the jurisdiction of the Irrigation Department where losses exceed 90 percent, on the instructions of a standing committee and a local MNA.
“We reinstalled transformers on the directions of the committee and the local MNA, which were later taken away with the support of Rangers,” the CEO said.
Taking serious notice of the remarks, the Minister for Power stated that if a transformer is removed with the support of Rangers in any area, it should not be reinstalled. He barred the CEO of SEPCO from providing such favours on the directions of any individual.
The minister further said that the Irrigation Department and Police Department are not paying their electricity bills despite the installation of AMR meters.
Officials of the Sindh government, however, stated that SEPCO had not provided cost estimates for replacing bulk meters with individual meters.
An additional secretary of the Sindh Finance Department informed the meeting that the federal government had directly deducted Rs8 billion at source from the province on account of electricity arrears.
Confirming the deduction, Awais Leghari said the amount was deducted in line with the CCI decision and emphasized that provinces must make timely payments of their electricity dues.
Secretary Power Dr Fakhre Alam Irfan said that while provinces pay their original reconciled amounts, the federal government has to borrow from banks to bridge the gap, and the resulting interest payments add to the circular debt.
According to official statement, the standing committee on Energy expressed its concern on non payment of electricity bills by irrigation and power departments of government of Sindh causing loss to the Power Distribution companies in Sindh. The Committee asked CEOs of Sukkur Electricity Supply Company and Hyderabad Electricity Supply Company and Secretaries of Finance, Irrigation and Power Departments Government of Sindh to sit together and reconcile the figure and arrange payment to save the electricity companies from recurring losses.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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