A government committee was told that 278,649 customers got higher electricity bills than they should have.
BY Mahnoor | 24-07-2026
ISLAMABAD: On Thursday, audit officials told a subcommittee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that power distribution companies (DISCOs) carried out a scam involving overcharging customers by Rs47 billion.
This was done to hide their poor performance, electricity theft, and line losses. The PAC subcommittee looked into overcharging caused by wrong meter readings. Audit officials said that the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) was responsible for Rs45 billion of this overcharging, followed by the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), which overcharged customers by Rs1.56 billion.
The Power Division secretary said that in one month, 278,649 customers got wrong electricity bills that were too high, totaling Rs47 billion. He said smart meters and transformer-based meters are being installed to stop this, and no complaints of overcharging have been received since they were introduced.
Audit officials told the meeting that lower-level DISCO workers who read meters caused the overcharging because they had too much power to make decisions. They said paying customers were purposely overcharged to hide electricity theft and line losses, and refunds were only given to customers who officially complained.
PAC members also said power companies charged too much for 904 million electricity units in just one month. Senator Afnanullah criticized the workers involved, saying those numbers only showed the cases that were found. He said, ‘We don’t know how many people are overcharged every month.’
He added, ‘If someone earning only 20,000 rupees a month gets a bill of 100,000 rupees, that might push them to steal electricity.’ He also said, ‘People are selling gold they saved for their daughters’ weddings just to pay electricity bills.’
Committee member Saleem Mandviwalla told the Power Division secretary: “It’s easy for you to say that, but did you think about consumers who had to borrow money to pay these huge bills? We’ve been hearing for 20 years that smart meters will be installed.”
The Lesco CEO said overbilling in their area has been completely stopped. He said electricity theft has been greatly reduced with help from the Rangers. For the first time, he added, one executive engineer and seven sub-divisional officers have been fired.
A small group looked at an audit report. It showed that Rs1.06 billion was stolen from the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) area. The theft happened by paying fake and retired employees. The report said that a pay officer, an engineer, and the finance chief’s office worked together to steal the money.
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