Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) officers have reportedly colluded with private banks and collective bargaining agents (CBA) to rob power consumers. Around Rs. 1.8 billion has been stolen from power consumers in the last five years.
According to sources, the IESCO officials swindled the consumers through monthly electricity bills. They received the bill collection sheet from the private banks but did not inform the higher management of IESCO.
The said amount is only an approximation, the exact figures of the defrauded bills are still unknown however an investigation is underway. A special audit committee is examining the accounts of IESCO for last five years. Moreover, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has also been informed about the fraud.
Reportedly, IESCO management has not taken appropriate action against the culprits. It suspended a few officers on charges of ‘misconduct’ and enabled subsistence allowance for them.
Documents further revealed that the nine IESCO officers, including revenue officer, finance officer, assistant manager (banking), divisional accounts officer, accounts officer, city construction division, one daily wage employee, and commercial assistant, were suspended over ‘misconduct’ on July 29. Suitable action for these employees was charging them for fraud instead of misconduct.
Also, the main culprits in this fraud were high-ranked officials like CSD, CBA, finance director and those in private banks, but only low-ranked officials were suspended as scapegoats.
