ISLAMABAD:
Auditors on Thursday told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that power distribution companies had earned more than Rs 8 billion in revenue through over-invoicing.
The top parliamentary committee met under the acting chairmanship of Shahida Akhtar Ali to review audit objections related to the Power Division for the financial year 2022-23.
Audit officials told the committee that consumers were being charged for units they did not consume, resulting in losses exceeding Rs 8,000 crore. They said overbilling was detected in more than a thousand feeders in multiple DISCOs.
Officials identified total financial irregularities worth Rs 8,727 billion across the division. They said more than Rs 9.34 billion had already been recovered.
According to the audit results, four DISCOs had issued unauthorized refunds worth Rs 9.14 billion to consumers. The auditors found that 293,572 active consumers received tariff relief or slab between 2018 and 2023, even though said exemption was intended only for disconnected users.
They added that meter readers often did not visit sites to record actual readings.
The secretary of the Energy Division told the committee that much of the required documentation had not been available during the audit.
