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Karachi: Karachi Electric Supply Company has expressed great dismay over the recent so-called protest demonstrations by defaulting consumers having huge outstanding bills to pay and involvement in power theft yet they had been pretending to be innocently complaining against “load shedding” that was not the actual case.
These consumers actually needed to pay their outstanding bills and stop stealing electricity to get power supply restored. The road blocking and tire burning by so-called “angry protesters” in recent days, KESC said, was actually a cunning cover-up to hide disconnection of their power supply on these two defaults.
Ironically, media was also presenting half truth while highlighting protests by defaulting consumers who were out to cause difficulties for their fellow citizens and disrupt normal City life as eye wash.
KESC said that because of huge outstanding amount against the faulty PMTs which were also overloaded due to high ratio of electricity theft; repair or replacement work could not be undertaken unless the defaulting consumers cleared their dues and supported utility’s efforts to bring down stealing of power.
KESC would not supply new PMTs or repair the faulty PMTs in areas that are plagued by non-payment and power theft.
KESC believes that media needed to expose the actual nature of street protests by defaulters and power thieves instead of portraying them as “consumers furious over load shedding.” Media also needed to comprehend and convey the true message that the defaulters and power thieves had been responsible for load shedding, most of local faults and frequent burning out of PMTs
KESC said that after exemption from load shedding during Eid holidays that was stretched to five days till Sunday, the normal load shedding plan of minimum three hours to maximum 4.5 hours in three equal cycles had been resumed across residential and commercial areas of the City.
Hospitals, industrial areas, sensitive connections and strategic location had completely been exempted from load shedding as always. Apart from that schedule, there had been no extra load shedding anywhere in the City, KESC stated.
On the other hand, since Aug. 18, KESC had disconnected power supply to numberless such consumers against whom huge outstanding amounts of power bills were due. In total, defaulting residential and commercial customers owed an unprecedented huge amount of over Rs. 37 billion to the utility.
Only in Region No. 4, comprising of Surjani Town, North Karachi, Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Federal B. Area, North Nazimabad and Liaquatabad, over Rs. 8.77 billion were outstanding against a total of 1759 PMTs, while in Region No. 3, comprising of Korangi Town, Gulistan-e-Johar, Landhi, Shah Faisal Town and Korangi Industrial Model Zone (KIMZ), over Rs. 5.081 billion had been outstanding against the consumers connected to 1168 PMTs To quote a few individual examples, Rs. 2.7 million and Rs. 10.9 million were outstanding against the residents protesting for replacement of faulty Chishtia Masjid PMT and Sadaat Colony PMT respectively.
The residents of these theft-ridden and overwhelmingly non paying localities had been protesting on streets against “imagined load shedding” while in fact they needed to settle their outstanding dues enabling KESC to replace the faulty PMTs
The protests were not going to help restore their power supply. KESC called upon the saner elements of society to influence the defaulting consumers to pay their unpaid bills, Non-payment of huge amounts had adversely impacted the utility’s smooth performance, and had also been blocking improvement of KESC’s system and services to its 20 million consumers, mainly those responsible and honest customers who suffered before of irresponsible attitude of defaulters.
The cash shortfall arising out of non-payment and electricity theft had also been affecting KESC’s ability to repair and replace the faulty PMTs, cables and other equipment. The power theft had been causing overloading of numberless PMTs resulting in frequent burning out.
KESC had already announced its decision not to repair or replace such overloaded and theft ridden PMTs unless outstanding bills were cleared and power theft was stopped.
For more information, contact:
Adil Murtaza
Assistant Manager, Media and PR
Karachi Electric Supply Company Limited (KESC)
2nd Floor, State Life Building No 11, Abdullah Haroon Road, Saddar, Karachi
Tel: +9221 9920 7163
Cell: +92346 822 3641
Email: adil.murtaza@kesc.com.pk