I AM a 70-year-old resident of Ranchore Line, which is one of the congested localities in Karachi. All my K-Electric monthly bills mention me as a star customer, but what a star customer has been receiving from KE is not 24/7 electricity, but a sort of continuous persecution in the shape of loadshedding during this scorching heat.

Despite having the tag of a star customer, we have been undergoing unabated loadshedding for the last several months. In a clockwise move, loadshedding starts as early as 6am in the morning. The lights glow at 8am. After an hour, there is no electricity supply for three hours; 9am to 12pm. Then we hardly have it for one hour. It again goes off at 1.15pm and there is no supply till 4.30pm. Just before dusk, it disappears at 6.30pm and reappears two hours later at 8.30pm. To complete its final turn of persecution, the KE shuts down the supply for one-and-a-half hour, from 10.30pm till midnight.

This is what the start customers have been facing despite paying all the bills on time as responsible citizens. Moreover, the bill for the month of May shows an unnecessary spike in the number of units consumed. Only KE knows the reason behind this.

The unscheduled loadshedding during sweltering summer days has become unbearable. I am sure the KE would want us to actually express gratitude for the uninterrupted supply from midnight till 6am. We are willing to express even that, but it will be nice if the KE management wakes up to the reality of one of its star customers.

F.A. Fareed
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2023