MY K-Electric (KE) account number is 0400036127854 and I am classified as a ‘star consumer’ by the utility service itself, as I always pay my bill on time. However, the last couple of months have been nothing short of traumatic for me because of inefficiency on the part of KE.

In the month of June, when I could not see my bill on the mobile application, I approached KE with a complaint following which it was able to generate my bill manually, which took another three days to reflect on the mobile app, and then I could pay. I thought this was some one-off glitch and would not happen again, but KE had its own ideas and designs about letting a ‘star consumer’ down again.

In July as well, my bill did not reflect on the app and I had to approach the utility service again. This time, KE generated my bill and sent it to me via email on July 25 with the due date being July 26. However, to my surprise, it had the issue date mentioned as July 12 on the bill.

I tried paying it through the app, but it was not found there. The KE team told me to pay this by visiting any of the listed banks, but much to my chagrin, the banks refused to accept the bill as it was not found in their systems either.

I am sure that such inefficiency and deceitful reporting on the bill are only meant to extort money from the consumers in the form of late payment surcharge. There can be no other reason for what KE has been doing to a ‘star consumer’ for two straight months. The relevant authorities should order a thorough audit of KE both in terms of performance and financial affairs. Strict action needs to be taken against KE for blatantly violating consumer rights.

Muhammad Haris
Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2023