Speaker Criticizes Inequitable Electricity Billing Practices in Muzaffarabad

Muzaffarabad (Azadi Times) – Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Department of Electronics (North) during a committee meeting held under his chairmanship at Block No. 04 Civil.

Haq criticized the department’s failure to collect electricity bills from elite consumers, highlighting the disparity in billing practices. He emphasized that if the department cannot ensure bill payments from affluent individuals, it has no grounds to demand payments from impoverished citizens.

During the meeting, concerns were raised regarding the indiscriminate use of air conditioners in the civil secretariat, coupled with unequal billing procedures. Haq questioned the fairness of burdening the poor with electricity expenses while exempting others from their obligations.

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Furthermore, Haq addressed the issue of corruption within the department, urging officers to resist unethical directives from superiors. He emphasized the importance of upholding integrity and standing against corrupt practices.

The Public Accounts Committee commended the Legislative Assembly Secretariat for its diligent approach to electricity bill payments. However, it expressed disappointment with the Department of Electronics (North) for its lax recovery process, attributing the inefficiency to a lack of enforcement of writ.

The committee directed a third-party valuation to assess losses incurred by the government due to discrepancies between electricity purchases and reported sales. Additionally, it instructed the department to improve its recovery efforts and review 10% of its records.

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Present at the meeting were Deputy Speaker Chaudhry Riaz Ahmed, MLA Mian Abdul Waheed, MLA Colonel (retd) Waqar Ahmad Noor, along with several departmental officials including Muhammad Tayyab, Secretary of Energy and Water Resources, Zafraqbal, Chief Engineer of Electronics, and Saeeduddin Gilani, Chief Engineer of Electricity Grid.

The committee, headed by Secretary of the Legislative Assembly Chaudhry Basharat Hussain, will examine the clerk of the Electronics (South) department in its upcoming session on Wednesday.