THE frequency and duration of power outages in ‘loss’ zones, such as Lyari, Surjani, Korangi, Old Town, Port Qasim, Gadap, Keamari, etc., is startling. According to the website of K-Electric (KE), the maximum duration of loadshedding in high-loss areas is 7.5 to 10 hours. However, the reality is that some of these areas experience power shutdowns of more than 14 hours daily.

Until 2019, power theft through the infamous kundas (hooks) had been common in some towns. The situation improved massively after the installation of insulated theft-resistant aerial bundled cables (ABCs). Power theft, however, still takes place in some areas, but not as much as was the case earlier. It is obvious that KE officials are involved in facilitating the theft. The KE should look out for the black sheep within instead of penalising the paying users. Without the collusion of KE staff, any power theft by individual consumers or a group of consumers is impossible after the installation of ABCs.

By eliminating kundas, the KE has overcome a major hurdle in its campaign to plug the main source of power theft and line losses. The other remaining issues, such as recovery of outstanding dues from defaulters, streamlining of bill-collection process, purging the company of the black sheep, etc., can be resolved with the help of regular bill-paying consumers and by taking recourse to the legal process.

While the KE has the option of disconnecting the power supply of the defaulters and take them to a court of law, the desirable course will be to resolve the issue amicably by involving community leaders, different associations and social groups to build pressure on the defaulters. The prayer-leaders in mosques can be engaged to raise awareness during their Friday sermons.

The defaulters, a tiny minority, cannot withstand community pressure for long. Those not yielding to such pressure can be proceeded against as per the law. The KE’s current practice of subjecting all consumers to 14 hours of loadshedding to recover its outstanding dues is unfair to the majority of regular bill-payers.

Ideally, the KE should adopt a straightforward approach, remaining within the bounds of law and keeping the regular bill-payers safe and harmless. Instead, it has chosen a course that is coercive and illegal.

The general impression among the KE regular bill-payers is that the company is not serious about recovering its dues, but extending the loadshedding intentionally. Perpetuation of the situation allows the entity to claim a huge subsidy from the government in the name of line losses, on the one hand, and invests it with the carte blanche, on the other, to divert the electricity of the poor areas to the affluent areas to take advantage of the difference in per-unit prices.

It may be mentioned that affluent areas consume more electricity and pay a higher price per unit than the areas that consume less electricity and pay a lower price per unit. This difference of price per unit means a lot for the KE balance sheet and seems to be one of the reasons behind the ongoing massive loadshedding.

The role of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) in this whole saga has been deplorable. Its silence over the consumer rights violations, affecting hundreds of thousands of KE consumers who pay their bills regularly, is criminal.

The government needs to wake up from its slumber and check out the facts before doling out subsidies to the KE.

Ahmad Fakir Muhammad
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023