Frustration is boiling over among Karachi’s residents as K-Electric faces renewed criticism for its load-shedding policy, which punishes entire neighborhoods for electricity theft committed by a few.
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Citizens accuse the city’s sole power supplier of turning Karachi into a “load-shedding concentration camp,” subjecting even bill-paying, on-time customers to hours of blackouts during the city’s sweltering summer.
“K-Electric’s so-called anti-theft strategy is collective torture,” one resident said. “Why should law-abiding consumers suffer just because their neighbors have illegal connections?”
The company, with its multi-billion-rupee operating budget, is being called out for failing to use technology and resources to target only actual electricity thieves. Critics argue that despite KE’s frequent public relations campaigns, app upgrades, and CSR initiatives, the power utility has become “the most despised corporate entity in Karachi.”
“KE doesn’t just provide electricity — it provides misery,” another Karachiite wrote online. “No amount of PR spin can erase the fact that loyal customers are being punished for crimes they didn’t commit.”
K-Electric typically responds to such complaints by stating that load-shedding is determined by feeder losses, which include theft and non-payment, and that efforts are underway to curb electricity theft through community engagement.
For many residents, however, that explanation has become a predictable, copy-paste excuse — and a symbol of what they see as incompetence and corporate indifference.
