Consumers Forced to Pay Rs. 4,800 Crore Extra in Electricity Bills

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has raised serious concerns over financial mismanagement, electricity overbilling, and alleged embezzlement in Pakistan’s power sector.

Audit officials told the committee that power distribution companies overbilled 278,649 consumers by Rs. 47.81 billion in a single month through incorrect meter readings. According to the audit, the overbilling was allegedly used to conceal operational inefficiencies and transmission and distribution losses. LESCO accounted for around Rs. 45 billion of the total, while PESCO was responsible for Rs. 1.56 billion.

During a meeting chaired by Shahida Akhtar Ali, the committee reviewed the Power Division’s Audit Report 2024-25, which included 20 audit objections involving more than Rs. 508 billion.

The PAC also decided to write to the prime minister over the repeated absence of principal accounting officers from committee meetings, warning that future meetings would not proceed without their attendance.

Power Division Secretary Dr. Fakhray Alam Irfan said smart meters and transformer-based metering systems are being deployed to prevent such incidents, adding that IESCO has already installed one million smart meters. However, PAC members questioned the slow pace of reforms, with Senator Saleem Mandviwalla noting that similar promises had been made for nearly two decades.

The committee also heard that refunds were generally issued only to consumers who challenged inflated bills. Audit officials alleged that lower-level staff used discretionary powers to overbill paying consumers in an attempt to hide electricity theft and line losses.

Separately, the PAC reviewed an alleged Rs. 1.06 billion embezzlement case at Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO), where salaries were allegedly paid to ghost and retired employees through collusion between officials. HESCO’s chief executive said four employees had been dismissed, while the Federal Investigation Agency informed the committee that five FIRs had been registered, more than 130 individuals were under investigation, and Rs. 130 million had been recovered so far.

The committee directed the Power Division to verify employees across all DISCOs and shift salary payments to a digital system to improve transparency and prevent fraud.

During the briefing, the Power Division secretary said the government is gradually exiting the electricity generation and distribution business. He said the privatization of three DISCOs is in its final stages and is expected to be completed by early 2027. Financial advisers are also being appointed for the privatization of HESCO and SEPCO, while TESCO and QESCO will remain under government ownership in line with a federal cabinet decision.

The PAC directed the Power Division to strengthen financial oversight, improve governance, and ensure greater transparency and accountability across the power sector.