NEPRA to take action against Discos over excessive bills

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) is set to initiate legal proceedings against distribution companies (Discos) charging consumers excessive bills and detection bills by adopting illegal and unlawful practices.

NEPRA decided to initiate legal action against K-Electric (KE) and other power-providing companies following an inquiry report revealing that the Discos have been charging millions of consumers excessively.

In a statement issued on Monday, the power regulator authority revealed that an inquiry showed that the billing cycles carried out by different DISCOs ranged from more than 30 days to 40 days and even more against the notified tariff terms and conditions in which the billing period means a billing month of 30 days or less.

The inquiry also revealed that due to the non-replacement of defective meters, thousands of consumers were charged on an average basis for more than two months and even in a large number of cases; one to three years and even above three years.

“It is very unfortunate that distribution companies are deliberately carrying out such malpractices to hide their inefficiencies due to which thousands of consumers suffered with higher electricity bills,” the authority said in a statement on Monday.

“It is alarmingly noted that thousands of consumers were charged for more than 40 days of billing. This was the major cause of overbilling during July 2023 & August 2023,” the NEPRA stated.

“The respective Discos did not bother to replace the defective meters even after three years. Had these meters been replaced on time, there could have been a chance to calculate the authentic figures of losses,” the authority said.