Rawalpindi - The water and power development authority (WAPDA) has sent an electricity bill of Rs 458,384 to a domestic consumer living in a small house here at Sadiqabad area, sources informed to The Nation on Saturday.
The owner of the house got faint after seeing such a hefty electricity bill while WAPDA officials refused to correct the bill, sources said.
According to sources, the WAPDA’s billing section has sent an electricity bill (reference number 05 14314 0894900 U) of Rs 458,384 against consuming 59,484 units for the month of January 2015 to Muhammad Yousaf son of Fizal Karim, resident of BIV-435 Muslim Town, Rawalpindi.
When contacted, the victim Muhammad Yousaf confirmed the blunder of WAPDA, saying he has been living in a small house and has never consumed more than 250 units even in summer. He said that he consumed 132 units during the month of December and had the bill of Rs 8,156.
He said that he paid several visits to SDO office for correction of the faulty bill but the SDO had refused to do so. He protested against the negligence of the WAPDA high-ups and demanded State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali to take strict notice of the situation.
Despite several attempts, State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, who had convened an open katcheri in Punjab House last month and had warned the WAPDA SDOs to not send excessive bills to cosumers, XEN and SDO Satelite Town were not available for their official version on the blunder which fainted a poor citizen.