LAHORE: A joint committee of the Punjab Assembly on Monday grilled Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) officials over overbilling, prolonged load shedding, hanging electricity wires and shifting the burden of power theft onto regular bill-paying consumers.
The issue came under discussion during a joint meeting of the Law Reforms Committee and Special Committee No. 16, chaired by Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, where members voiced serious concern over persistent public complaints regarding electricity services.
Members termed hanging wires a “death trap” and demanded their immediate removal. “Hanging wires are inviting death,” the speaker said, directing officials to take urgent measures to prevent accidents.
The speaker criticised the mechanism for correcting overbilling, saying consumers sometimes spent months getting incorrect bills rectified and had to visit three different offices. He called for an effective complaint-resolution system to provide relief to consumers without unnecessary delays.
Members also questioned the practice of imposing load shedding on entire areas because of electricity theft by a few consumers. “Catch the electricity thieves, but why punish those who pay their bills?” the speaker asked.
LESCO Chief Muhammad Ramzan Butt told the meeting that feeders with zero losses faced zero load shedding, while feeders with higher losses were subjected to load shedding to recover losses caused by electricity theft.
The explanation, however, failed to satisfy members, who questioned the existing load shedding criteria and asked what fault lay with consumers who regularly paid their electricity bills.
Ahsen Raza Khan pointed out that the Punjab Assembly had already passed a resolution against unannounced load shedding. Member Noor-ul-Amin Wattoo said people sometimes collected money to repair transformers, only to face cases registered against them by LESCO.
The committee also expressed concern over the procedure for compensating victims of electricity-related accidents. Officials said police conduct an investigation after a complaint is lodged, but the speaker termed the compensation mechanism complicated and called for its simplification.
Samiullah Khan said he had twice tried to contact the LESCO chief but could not get a response, while other members complained that LESCO officials often failed to respond to public representatives seeking resolution of consumers’ complaints.
The additional secretary Power assured the committee that LESCO authorities would ensure timely responses to complaints. He said committees were being formed at the XEN level to resolve electricity-related grievances.
The speaker directed the LESCO chief to provide answers at the next meeting to all questions raised during the session, particularly regarding electricity theft and the removal of hanging wires.
“This is not merely a meeting; it has been convened to resolve public issues,” Malik said, directing officials to come out of their offices and address citizens’ problems.
Provincial Law Minister Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan said the concerns raised by legislators should not be viewed as their personal displeasure but as complaints of the public.
The meeting was attended by Law Minister Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Samiullah Khan, Amjad Ali Javed, Mian Tanveer Aslam Malik, Ahmad Iqbal Chaudhry, Zulfiqar Ali Shah, Chaudhry Javed Ahmad, Uzma Kardar, Arif Mahmood Gill, Malik Ahmad Saeed, Ghazanfar Abbas, Ahsen Raza Khan, Rana Muhammad Arshad and Noor-ul-Amin Wattoo, besides officials of the Punjab Energy Department, NEPRA, LESCO and National Grid Company.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026