KARACHI - A consumer of Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) managed to capture an employee of the company red-handed while taking bribe. The corrupt employee has been dismissed from his jobs and investigations against have been ordered. The consumer had secretly made the video of the said official when the later was taking bribe and presented the same as proof to the KESC high-ups. In a press briefing, Naveed Ismail, CEO KESC, said the company had received over 120 complaints through Speak-Up campaign, and investigations were underway against the guilty officials would be dealt with sternly as per law. A surveillance video, taken by a consumer, was also presented in the briefing, which showed a KESC employee trying to strike a 'deal with a consumer for grant of a new connection and receiving bribe. The said employee has been fired after he confessed his crime. Giving details, the CEO said that a consumer had complained that a KESC official was demanding money from him for the grant of a connection. The high-ups of the company asked the consumer to strike a fake deal with the culprits while secret cameras would be recording their conversation. The consumer cooperated and the culprit was captured. The CEO further said that KESC would soon introduce centralised software for registration of complaints. The matter will be resolved within a fixed period of time while Companys central offices will closely monitor the entire process. We cannot achieve our goal of ensuring uninterrupted power supply to our consumers unless we maintain a corruption-free atmosphere inside our company. Enhancement of power generation, reducing the losses of transmission and improving the system of distribution had all been on the top priority of the company but the menace of corruption was plaguing the whole scheme, therefore, this issue had to be resolved immediately, he remarked. He agreed with the notion that there had to be a chain of corrupt officials behind every irregularity. We are investigating and would certainly dig them out, but we need proof for that, he explained. He appealed to the citizens to resist all kinds of tactics used by the corrupt KESC officials for getting their electricity-related needs accomplished and adopt proper rules and regulations. To another question about the tax bills on electricity poles sent by 18 town offices in the metropolis, he replied that electricity law of 1910 allowed the KESC to install its poles in the City therefore. He added that company had the right to disconnect electricity supply to the consumers on delayed payment of their bills for one month. We charge 10 per cent penalty over the late payment which is the cheapest mark-up. But we are not a finance institution and we should not be treated as such. We need money to run the company and our consumers should realise their responsibility to pay their bills in time, he commented. Speaking on the occasion, Jan Abbas Zaidi said the Independent Power Plant KANUPP had resumed power generation. At 2 PM on Monday, the total demand of the City was 2,200 MW while the supply stood at 2,193 MW. All the power units and IPPs had been functioning normally and the Pepco was supplying 610 MW. On Sunday, the KESC repaired 37 faults while it had received reports of 28 cable faults from all over the City. The areas where maintenance work was underway included Razakabad National Highway, Sharifabad, Mehmoodabad, Manzoor Colony, Shah Faisal Textile feeder in SITE area and Orangi Town, he added. Meanwhile, a team from the NEPRA is due to meet the KESC officials today (Tuesday) to know the reasons that led to a massive power breakdown on June 17.