In an energy-deficient country like Pakistan, running a power distribution company is a tough row to toe. Customers tend to pay their bills after consuming the electricity in the first place, and most importantly, those who fail to pay their electricity bills in time are entitled to pay their bills afterward with a late surcharge. According to NEPRA’S Consumer Service Manual, the consumer must pay their bill with late payment surcharges before the issuance of the next bill. With such a facility in hand, if any consumer fails to pay the bill and resorts to such heinous shortcuts as electricity theft, he not only loses his right to enjoy the services but is also liable for punitive measures, as clearly defined in the provisions of the law.
Insofar as we are aware, people’s wrongdoing or rank failure to abide by the laws results in the entire area suffering from electricity outages.
As things currently occur, areas abounding with a sizable number of defaulters and power thieves face loadshedding proportionate to the losses in the area. In marked contrast, the low-loss areas face no load-shedding at all. When the ratio of bill payments of an area improves, the power supply gets better in return and some towns, earlier categorized as high-loss areas, have now turned into low-loss areas. In other areas, the first step to improving the power supply is to make sure that kundas are removed, and people pay their bills in full and on time. Until such time, stealing electricity, whether through illegal abstraction of electricity or meter tampering, is a menace that severely affects all electricity consumers in equal proportions.
Areas abounding with a sizable number of defaulters and power thieves face loadshedding proportionate to the losses.
What’s interesting is that even the IMF has called for linking the frequency and duration of power outages across the country for bill recovery. The international lender believes this scheme will discourage rampant power theft and forestall non-payment of bills. Therefore, instead of all the fuss and protest about the load shedding, the representatives of the leading political parties, civil society, and the citizenry at large must act in unison to convince defaulters and power thieves to make them meet their moral obligations that they pay their electricity bills on time, refrain from any kind of power theft and tear up the kunda culture by the roots.
In Karachi, KE also regularly organizes facilitation camps across the city. It is also pertinent to mention that the Pakistan government sets the cost of electricity for consumers under the uniform tariff policy, which is applicable across the country. Therefore, it is incumbent upon consumers to understand that the distribution companies do not operate in a vacuum. Amid the current macroeconomic conditions and expensive fuel import, providing “free electricity” is impossible where recoveries are low, and losses remain higher.
On the other hand, since the power provider cannot automatically reduce the rates of the electricity bills to make the user happy, the best way is to educate them on how to shrink the bill by reducing their overall electricity consumption by employing various measures such as switching off lights and electric appliances when not in use, switching to energy-saving LED light globes and the like.
The writer is a freelance contributor. He can be reached at mykolachi@gmail.com