LESCO smart meters face overbilling allegations after reports claimed that the Lahore utility added extra units to consumer bills to meet line-loss targets, a claim that remains unverified.
What is being alleged
According to ProPakistani, which cites consumer complaints and unnamed sources, communication with some AMI smart meters was blocked or the meters were muted, and extra units were then billed through adjustments. Some bills reportedly show meter readings that do not match the meter photograph printed on them.
The reports link the practice to unstable line-loss targets and say consumers are struggling to pay unusually high bills. Pakistan Observer noted that the claims have not been confirmed by LESCO’s meter data, a NEPRA ruling or an official investigation, and that no figures exist for the number of meters or units involved.
What officials have said so far
Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan chaired a joint meeting of the Law Reforms Committee and Special Committee No. 16, where LESCO chief executive Muhammad Ramzan Butt was questioned over widespread complaints, Pakistan Observer reported. Earlier this month the speaker also said he would take LESCO complaints to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to Minute Mirror. The reports reviewed did not include a LESCO response to the smart-meter claims.
Why LESCO smart meters face overbilling scrutiny
Reports say an earlier overbilling crackdown ordered by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi pushed LESCO’s line-loss rate to about 15 percent, and that complaints resurfaced after the Federal Investigation Agency ended its operations. Because line-loss targets affect how distribution companies are judged, consumers and lawmakers want to know whether billing is based on measured use.
NEPRA has previously handled many LESCO consumer cases and in some of them ordered bill corrections or refunds. Customers who doubt a bill can compare the meter photograph on it with the actual display and raise a formal complaint with LESCO or NEPRA. A clear LESCO statement or an independent audit would settle the matter.
