However, the Punjab government has taken notice of the issuance of without-relief-bills to some consumers by Discos in Punjab and constituted committees to supervise the billing process.

These committees will be headed by the commissioners of Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi. The government has assigned the task to these committees to ensure provision of relief to the eligible consumers in service areas of the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco), Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO).

The committees will not only ensure the incorporation of relief in the bills but also ensure that consumers are being charged as per the actual and clear pictures taken by meter readers, and that the consumers are not being issued inflated bills (over billing etc).

The constitution of the committees has been confirmed by Punjab Minister for Information Azma Bukhari.

She was of the view that the bill shared on social media was a ‘test bill’ issued a few days ago. The original bills including the relief from the government are supposed to be shared by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, she added.

On the other side, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has approved a hike of up to Rs1.90 per unit in electricity tariff under quarterly adjustment for the fourth quarter of financial year 2023-24.

This increase in the power tariff will result in an overall burden of Rs46 billion on consumers.

The amount will be recovered from consumers of state-owned Discos and private utility K-Electric.

However, Nepra chairman claimed that consumers would get a relief of Rs1.80 per unit in electricity bills of September 2024. A public hearing was conducted by Nepra Chairman Waseem Mukhtar and members including Rafique Ahmad Shaikh, Mathar Niaz Rana, Maqsood Anwar Khan and Amina Ahmed.