LAHORE(National Times)- Consumers have criticised the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) field officials for allegedly harassing and disconnecting power supply unlawfully on the pretext of recovery of dues in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, the office of the Lahore commissioner has also decided to take the matter up with senior Lesco officials in a meeting scheduled for Tuesday (July 14) after it was approached to intervene and resolve the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA Lesco team came to our house on Saturday and started pressuring us to pay the bill immediately, failing which they threatened to remove the meter, disconnecting the power supply. I told the team that my bill is for just the month of July and the due date has just passed. There is no previous bill pending to be paid on my part. So, I thought to pay the bill with the next month\u2019s bill,\u201d revealed a consumer of Attari Saroba on Ferozepur Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He claimed the team continued exerting pressure to pay the bill immediately or be ready for power disconnection. \u201cI told them that I am not a defaulter and under the law, Lesco should have printed on the bill about this. But they (the official) not only misbehaved but also pressured me to pay the bill. Finally, we paid the bill,\u201d the consumer deplored, demanding the Lesco admin to take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking to Dawn<\/em>, Nishtar Tehsil Assistant Commissioner Saleem Aasi shared the removal of electricity meters of some consumers in Lahore GOR-1 without any notice or information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey (the Lesco officials) removed meters and disconnected the power supply a couple of days before without any notice. Their behaviour was also not good,\u201d he criticised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some consumers from Johar Town, Thokar Niaz Beg, Multan Road, Gulberg and other parts of the city also complained against Lesco teams for pressuring them to pay the bill on the spot or face action. \u201cIt is simply harassment,\u201d he deplored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is worth mentioning that power disconnection through removal of meters cannot be done until non-payment of the bill pending for the current and previous month. However, for some months, Lesco teams continued to cut connections even for non-payment of bills for a single month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When contacted, Ameer Hussain, PSO to Lahore Commissioner, said a meeting with Lesco officers had been scheduled for Tuesday in which this issue would also be taken up along with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter we came to know about Lesco teams harassing people on the pretext of bill recovery, we decided to also include this issue in the agenda items of the meeting,\u201d he told this reporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will ask Lesco not to do this with citizens,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When contacted, Lesco Chief Executive Officer Ramzan Butt said that those consumers who failed to pay a single month\u2019s bill were seen as defaulters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to him, previously those consumers who failed to pay bills consecutively for two months had their power cut. However, later it was decided to also consider those consumers as defaulters who had not paid a single month\u2019s bill. When asked about the allegations of harassment by Lesco teams, he dispelled the impression, stating that largely there were no such complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will check and take action against officials involved in such practices,\u201d he pledged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LAHORE(National Times)- Consumers have criticised the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) field officials for allegedly harassing and disconnecting power supply unlawfully on the pretext of recovery of dues in the city. On the other hand, the office of the Lahore commissioner has also decided to take the matter up with senior Lesco officials in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n