Daily Times

More than 7,000 domestic and commercial power meters in Faisalabad were found faulty and fixed bills are being sent to those consumers belying the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) management’s tall claims of departmental corruption elimination and solve consumer problems.

FESCO officials have released meter defect report numbers which revealed that more than 7,000 meters are identified in the five circles of FESCO which have been faulty for a long time but these faulty meters are not being repaired by the sub-divisions concerned of FESCO.

The concerned consumers have claimed to visit the FESCO offices several times for the rectification of their faulty meters but no avail.

Officers and staff of the concerned sub-divisions are sending fixed bills to these customers instead of fixing or replacing the faulty meters. And its formula is that this month’s bill will be sent and received in the same proportion as the electricity bill received last month.

According to sources, more than 7,000 faulty electricity meters are not being replaced or repaired by the officers and staff of the relevant sub-divisions of FESCO. Despite all these concerns, officers and staff of FESCO’s sub-divisions are refraining from taking any interest in replacing the faulty meters. The consumers are also facing difficulties in paying fixed bills and they seem to be complaining that FESCO staff does not replace their faulty meters and the bill is not being sent in proportion to their electricity usage.

Moreover, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) officials are conducting a special crackdown on power thieves these days. Recently, a monthly report on the operations against power thieves was also released, but after the revelation that more than 7,000 meters were damaged; the campaign of FESCO officials against power thieves has also become ineffective. Similarly, FESCO officials were also ordered by the Power Division officials to hold open court and online courts, which is being implemented, but the consumers who take their problems to these open courts are only childish.

In this regard, FESCO consumers said that many claims are made by FESCO officials to solve power related problems but their implementation is limited to words only. Therefore, the Federal Minister for Power and Water Should take notice. A FESCO spokesperson clarified that the issue of non-replacement of faulty meters is under notice and these meters will be replaced as soon as possible.