KARACHI : Federal Ombudsman’s senior adviser and in charge Regional Office Karachi, Syed Anwar Hyder, on Wednesday, conducted hearing of complaints pertaining to renewal of distribution license of K-Electric.
The ombudsman had received around 200 complaints by general public in which complainants highlighted different issues including failure of KE in improving its power distribution network, interruption in power supply and inflated bills and requested to consider those concerns during the process of renewal of distribution license of KE.
Besides the complainants, the hearing was attended by adviser National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Abid Hussain, General Manager KE Aamir Shehzad and Deputy General Manager KE Najam ud din Sheikh.
Syed Anwar Hyder, while briefing the APP about hearing proceedings, informed that distribution license of KE would expire on July 20, 2023 and NEPRA has already issued advertisement to receive objections and public feed back for renewal of the license.
KCCI, SITE Association, different market associations and other stakeholders had also filed their representations in connection with KE to NEPRA, he informed adding that other stakeholders may also file their objections online to NEPRA while the national regulator would also conduct a public hearing before renewal of the distribution license.
Syed Anwar Hyder informed that a proposal also came under discussion that highlighted the need of more than one companies for generation and distribution of electricity in Karachi to fulfil the energy needs and improve services.
The metropolis was expanding rapidly both in terms of area and population and engaging more companies in generation and distribution operations would help improving the performance and service delivery, he opined.
The KE representatives informed the senior adviser that Rs.500 billion were invested by the company in previous years to upgrade the distribution network and enhance the production of electricity and administration has planned to invest as much money in coming years as well.
Syed Anwar Hyder said that public complaints in the regard and recommendations would be forwarded to NEPRA for further processing.
