ISLAMABAD - The government has issued final show-cause notice to the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shabbir Ahmed due to its worst performance in meter reading and overcharging its customer.

Almost all the Discos have presented their readings along with their snapshots but Pesco has overcharged its customers and therefore didn’t share its data with the Power Division, official sources told The Nation. A meeting to review the progress on meter reading and net metering was held here in the Power Division. The meeting was presided over by the federal minister for power division and was attended by the officials of the Power Division, Pepco, PITC, AEDB and other concerned organizations.

The official said all the Discos have submitted their data, of first batch of meter readings, which was analysed by Pepco and compared 100 percent snapshots with meter readings. Now the second batch is being analysed and a biweekly meeting will be held by the end of the month to evaluate the efficiency of the Discos.

The official said that PESCO chief is the nominee of the federal government and he was not appointed by the Pesco Board of Directors (BoD). If the Pesco chief will not follow the directives regarding the submission of net metering, he will be removed from the post, the official maintained.

Meanwhile, the Federal Power Minister Awais Ahmed Khan Laghari has directed to issue final warning and show cause to the Pesco Chief Executive Officer Shabbir Ahmed on non-compliance of directions regarding accurate meter reading and consumer billing. The minister also directed to issue show-cause notices to CEOs of Sepco, Hesco and Qesco for poor performance regarding accurate mobile meter reading and directed them to fix responsibilities on the poorest five performing sub division officers under the existing rules.

Laghari appreciated CEOs of Fesco and Mepco for achieving 99 percent accuracy in mobile meter reading. The minister also directed to issue displeasure to CEOs of Qesco and Sepco for not displaying load and other related information for facilitation of net metering on their websites.

The minister directed that 100 percent meter reading for agriculture tube well in Mepco region from this month ie November 2017 shall be through Automated Meter Information to ensure 100 percent accuracy. There are 43,000 AMI meters already installed in Mepco region for agricultural tube wells.

It was further directed that SMS must be sent to the agricultural consumers regarding the meter reading in time so that they should have complete record of their energy consumption. The minister directed that SMS service for consumers for dissemination of information regarding meter reading, bill and electricity related matters be initiated in all Discos on the pattern of Iesco’s Roshni services.

Laghari directed to develop a smart phone application for consumers which can help them to get information regarding load management, shut down etc of their respective feeders besides their own electricity bills. The minister was informed that the AEDB and the Pepco are working closely for promotion of net metering in the country. It was informed that distribution companies have uploaded necessary information regarding feeder load etc necessary for installation of net metering. The AEDB has already issued advertisement for short listing of vendors for provision of services regarding installation of net meters. The Dicsos have also notified designated officers for facilitation of net metering up to 250KV and Nepra has also sought proposal/comments on new regulations proposed by the Power Division.

The minister was informed that after analysis of the first batch of the distribution companies for meter reading the Fesco has been able to produce 99 percent, Mepco 99 percent, Lesco 99 percent, Gepco 98 percent, Iesco 98 percent, Hesco 78 percent, Sepco 54 percent, Quesco 55 percent accuracy. However, Pesco failed to share its data in the stipulated time.

The minister was informed that all Discos have initiated publicity campaign to register the mobile numbers of consumers for sending SMS alerts regarding the meter reading and generation bills. He was informed that till mid of next month the process is expected to be completed.

The minister was briefed that Discos are also working to put in place transparent and consumer-friendly services for provision of new electricity connections. The system will be centrally connected with IT based solutions and the consumers will be getting information via SMS regarding his application on the analogy of system developed by Nadra. The PITC informed that as per the directions of the minister, a power sector related smartphone application will be finalised by early next month.