HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) President Adeel Siddiqui has urged the government to order the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to conduct an inquiry into the growing complaints of overbilling by Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) maintaining that if the unfair practice is not stopped, it will undermine industrial growth.

He in a press statement said that the HCCI wanted action against Hesco on the pattern of the measures being taken against the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) as per disclosure of Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

He said that traders and businessmen of Hyderabad had long been protesting against Hesco’s poor performance in Hyderabad, the province’s second largest and industrialised city.

He said the interior minister had recently expressed his concern over overbilling by Lesco and entrusted an inquiry to the FIA vowing to put an end to the practice. “We demand a similar inquiry against Hesco because we are also highly concerned about overbilling. Traders and members of the business community of Hyderabad are already protesting against Hesco’s performance,” he said, adding that they had been burdened with fuel price adjustment charges and other taxes, besides electricity tariff. A decline in industrial activities was being caused by power distribution companies (Discos) and it was right time the federal government introduced reforms in the companies to ensure promotion of industrial activities, he said.

Mr Siddiqui said that unannounced loadshedding was imposed routinely due to “criminal negligence” of Hesco staff and management which had a bad impact on industrial growth.

Besides, he said, bona fide consumers who were good paymasters were slapped with detection bills. In addition to these issues Hesco had started overbilling to the tune of 30 to 100 units in each bill for industrial and commercial sectors as well as poor consumers every month. According to a safe estimate, industrial and commercial sector consumers would have to bear the burden of billions of electricity units, he said.

He said that the situation was leading to serious unrest among business community members. He strongly condemned overbilling by Hesco.

He urged the federal energy minister to take immediate notice of Hesco’s unfair practices and take practical measures to save the industrial sector from collapse.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024