I am one of the unhappy consumers of the Municipal Utility Service Charges (MUSC) imposed by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation since January 2009. The reason for my unhappiness is that the bill for the said services is served among its consumers quarterly consisting of every three months. The consumers belong to the salaried class face hardship to pay their three months charges at a time. The department of KMC responsible for levying these charges should distribute its bill monthly instead of quarterly.
Soon after I received the bill on July 2013 for its quarter January to March-2013, I phoned the department to invite their attention towards monthly billing, a person who introduced himself as a senior director replied in a mild manner, which was rare as far as government offices, that he would propose it to the competent forum. I am also concerned with the deliverables of KMC. Much should be done by the KMC to improve its service for its consumers for which it is charging hefty rates of municipal services. KMC must provide its consumers a booth area-wise so the consumers can contact it for the swift redress of their grievances. The person sitting in the booth must understand all the services that MUSC promises to be providing to its consumers for which the bill is distributed.
I asked my relatives living nearby my houses to know whether they receive such bill regularly. One of my relatives gave me her terse reply that the service provider seems least interested to get what it delivers and she substantiated in support of her stance that the address on the bill is not complete or correct. On the other hand, she received the bill of the first quarter of 2013 commencing from January 2013 to March 2013 in July 2013 which shows the service provider’s irregularity. In order to facilitate the consumers, a link must also be provided to the web-portal of KMC so the consumers can download their bills and avoid waiting for the distributers. A link should also be provided to lodge a complaint.
JAWED AHMED KHURSHEED,
Karachi, September 23