In order to acknowledge a large number of complaints and tackle the public grievances in an organized way, the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat has instructed all the electricity and gas distribution companies to organize a public complaint resolution mechanism and automation system on an urgent basis.
According to the Secretariat, each year, around 35,000 complaints are recorded against the electricity distribution companies and over 6,000 complaints against the gas distribution companies.
Most of the complaints are about following issues:
The Senior Advisor at Federal Ombudsman, Hafiz Khokhar, disclosed that a number of complaints are recorded against Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) as well.
He said:
Complaints against electricity distribution companies far exceed those made against gas distribution companies and the irony is that these complaints are not being addressed well in time.
The aim behind establishing this system is to provide a platform to the people to directly register complaints with the electricity/ gas distributor of their respective area and these companies will be bound to address their complaints within 15 days.
He further added that if any of these companies fail to resolve the issues within the allotted time frame, the complaints will be addressed and resolved by the Federal Ombudsman itself.
Furthermore, a meeting has been arranged on January 3, 2018, in order to keep a check on the status of complaints resolution mechanism and automation system.