Is KESC implying all Karachiites are thieves?

“KESC humiliating citizens by telling them they steal electricity”

December 23, 2009
By Irfan Aligi

KARACHI: Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) ltd has started a unique style of humiliating the electricity consumers and taxpayer citizens.

The utility has recently started sending colourful electricity bills to its consumers, which makes it clear that the consumers at the receiving end of KESC’s electricity bills were not involved in any violation to the utility including the fact that these consumers have been paying off their electricity bills regularly. Only a few consumers could fail to pay their monthly electricity bills and for that they have to pay the accumulated bill they receive the following month alongwith late payment surcharge and interest on it.

The KESC could not claim that the residential consumers had not paid KESC’s monthly electricity bills because the utility’s team assigned to disconnection constantly monitors those consumers who due to any reason failed to pay off their electricity bills for successive three months or upto Rs 5,000 of accumulated amount of electricity bills.

The utility has a print of shameful text on the front of monthly electricity bill, which is as:

“Hum Bijli Chooratay Hain Tub hi Hamaray Bachchay Iskoolon Main Garmi Say Behaal Hotay Hain” (Since we (the KESC’s consumers) steal the electricity therefore our children face hot climate in classrooms).

Definitely, KESC do not send bills to those electricity consumers who steal the electricity by Kunda system, as the utility has claimed. Proper bills could only be served to those who have legal electricity connections.

KESC feels no reluctance to disconnect electricity connections of any consumers who fail to pay the dues. The KESC was sending such bills to legal consumers with humiliating text.

The KESC should rather take measures for improving flaws in the distribution system and reducing line losses. If the KESC feels there were illegal connections in the city, it should ask the government for help rather they should hurt the self-esteem of the legal and respectable consumers.

In fact, the citizens of the city have been left at the mercy of KESC. There is no time limit of load sheding, which exceeds many hours but the bills carry cumbersome and heavy amounts.

While talking to Daily Times, many citizens who pointed out that humiliating text on KESC’s electricity bill said that if the government or any authority was unable to address citizens’ agony that has worsened by the KESC’s heavy and increased tariff, at least they should ask the KESC to remove such indecent language from bills.