LAHORE – The jail department has successfully recovered Rs400 million from the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) for overbilling.
Reports said Wapda had made additional charges under the guise of overbilling for electricity consumption in jails.
The recovery followed an audit of the electricity meters at various jails, which revealed discrepancies in the charges.
The audit report exposed that the overbilling amounted to Rs400 million, prompting the jail department to take action.
As a result, Wapda has now refunded the amount in question to the department.
Last year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday declared that electricity overbilling by distribution companies (Discos) would no longer be tolerated, directing authorities to expedite the rollout of smart meters to promote accuracy and transparency in power billing.
In February 2024, an independent four-member inquiry committee investigating “illegal overbilling” validated Nepra’s findings that all Discos had charged consumers excessively, though it concluded that the practice was not intentional or carried out with malicious intent.
By April, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had also issued a firm warning that any form of overbilling was unacceptable. The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy echoed these concerns in August, voicing serious alarm over the growing number of consumer complaints related to inflated electricity bills.
