ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Electricity Supply Company(IESCO) and Bahria Town have joined hands against power sector regulator, NEPRA as both the entities seem reluctant to implement decision of the Authority to refund the unjustified overcharges to the consumers and handing over electricity supply system to IESCO.
The influential real estate company Bahria Town Private Limited (BTPL) has been facing the charges of collecting unjustified amount of Rs. 4 per electricity unit from its consumers residing in Bahria Town housing societies in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The power sector regulator National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has already declared the private electricity supply network of BTPL as illegal and cancelled its license. NEPRA in its decision on 15th January 2021, had clearly declared that the tariff petition of BTPL for financial year (FY) 2018-19 and 2019-20 is invalid as the license of the company stood cancelled.
Controversy between IESCO and BTPL has put the issue of Bahria Town Rawalpindi/Islamabad residents on backburner.
More than 35,000 households of Bahria Town Rawalpindi/Islamabad have invested trillions of rupees in the real estate Empire of BTPL for one of the prominent features of the housing project; “an uninterrupted electricity supply”, but the residents of BTPL housing projects in the twin cities not have been facing electricity load-shedding for the last couple of months and also paying unjustified amount added in the electricity bills; Rs 4 per unit.
The NEPRA, on 24 February 2021, in a written communication, had expressed dismay over both the entities; IESCO and BTPL and directed the IESCO to ensure implementation of the decision including immediately payback the over-charged amount to the consumers by the BTPL and that IESCO takes over the electricity supply system of Bahria Town.
However both are yet to start implementation of NEPRA’s decision and directions. A senior official of IESCO on condition not to named informed ‘The News Today’ that the implementation of NEPRA decision by IESCO is not as easier as it is being considered by the Authority.
The distribution company is not in the position to bear the huge expense and even not able to adjust the 35000 consumers of BTPL into IESCO electricity network in days, weeks, months even in a year, he maintained.
The spokesperson of IESCO, Raja Asim while speaking with this scribe said that NEPRA’s 24th February communication has been received by the office of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), while the P&D departments and other concerned have been working on it vigorously to find out the way forward to ensure the implementation of NAPRA decision.
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