ISLAMABAD: The power sector regulator on Tuesday levied a fine of Rs4 million on Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) for its failure to comply with the performance standards.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) stated IESCO failed to maintain the authorized voltage levels and supply electricity connections within the given time and orchestrated data regarding the number of interruptions, number of complaints and duration of interruptions.
Last year, a Nepra team had paid a visit to IESCO to determine performance and authenticate the data submitted in an annual performance report of IESCO for FY17 and carried out a survey of consumers.
Then the team submitted a detailed report, indicating the poor performance of IESO in lieu of various performance key indicators as set under Nepra laws.
Acting on the findings of the report, Nepra decided to commence legal proceedings and after a due legal course of action and giving adequate chances of hearing, it passed the final order on 18th of October.
More than 14 hours of unscheduled electricity outages were observed in various areas of Iesco during May and June 2017.
The main reason attributed to the unscheduled power cuts was the constraint in the transmission system, which caused voltage fluctuations.
Home appliances got damaged due to inadequate voltages where in some areas it fell 180 volts.
Also, Nepra highlighted IESCO hadn’t been providing electricity connection on the applications pending since the last six months despite payments.
However, IESC was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation and Nepra noted with concerns that IESCO manipulated data in its performance report for FY17.
In my opinion, both are Govt Departments and the fine will not resolve the issue, however, if some officials were demoted or salary cut will resolve these issues.
Both are not govt deptts. IESCO is a separate supply company and paying the fine will definitely push them to make their services better in future
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