In an intensive 5-day recovery campaign, the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) has successfully collected a total of Rs. 130.67 million from 4,808 deceased defaulters across all its operational circles. This achievement comes as LESCO partnered with Tehsildars (Recovery) to tackle the long-standing issue of outstanding dues.
The campaign, which commenced on September 13, saw the Lahore Division’s Commissioner assigning additional responsibilities to Tehsildar Recovery, who collaborated closely with LESCO’s CEO, Engineer Shahid Haidar, and designated four senior officers to facilitate the recovery process.
Chief Engineer OandM (TandG) Zafar Iqbal, along with Tehsildar City Mujahid Zia and Tehsildar Shalimar Noreez Humayun, recovered outstanding dues of Rs. 16.67 million from 493 defaulters in the Northern Circle, while Rs. 19.38 million was collected from 714 defaulters in the Eastern Circle. LESCO Manager (Material Disposal) Engineer Anwar Wattoo, aided by Tehsildar Model Town Rana Arsal and Tehsildar Cantt Sajjad Qureshi, retrieved Rs. 21.54 million from 520 defaulters in the Central Circle and Rs. 14.38 million from 430 defaulters in the South Circle.
Manager (Technical) Engineer Muhammad Farooq, with the support of Tehsildar Nankana Sahib Muhammad Iqbal Rasheed and Tehsildar Sheikhupura Muhammad Aslam Gujjar, secured Rs. 5.26 million from 305 defaulters in Nankana Circle and Rs. 16.34 million from 590 defaulters in Sheikhupura Circle. Additionally, LESCO Manager EandS (PMU) Engineer Abbas Ali collaborated with Naib Tehsildar Kasur and Okara Mirza Zahid Baig to recover outstanding dues of Rs. 9.61 million from 630 defaulters in Okara Circle and Rs. 27.49 million from 1,126 defaulters in Kasur Circle.
On the fifth day of the campaign, LESCO, in partnership with Tehsildars (Recovery), reclaimed Rs. 19.75 million from 576 deceased defaulters across its various operational circles.
LESCO CEO emphasized the importance of these efforts, citing the significant losses the company incurred due to dead defaulters. The top 100 defaulters in each circle collectively owed LESCO a staggering Rs. 4.545 billion in outstanding dues.
In a related development, LESCO’s Burj Attari Sub-Division apprehended Arshad Khokhar for stealing electricity directly from the transmission line to power a tube-well. The inspection team promptly disconnected his power supply, leading to his arrest by local authorities. Arshad Khokhar, who also appeared in LESCO’s dead defaulter records, owed outstanding dues of Rs. 850,000 to the company and was charged Rs. 1.4 million as a detection bill.
LESCO’s ongoing operations against electricity theft have been yielding results, with over 4,451 connections identified as pilfering electricity during an 11-day initiative across all operational circles. Of these, 3,845 cases led to FIR applications, 2,730 FIRs were registered, and 224 accused were arrested. Electricity thieves were collectively charged with 9,622,164 detection units, amounting to Rs. 409.452 million.
The CEO vowed to continue these anti-power theft operations relentlessly, ensuring that both electricity pilferers and any complicit LESCO officers or employees are brought to justice. On the 11th day, LESCO discovered 755 connections involved in electricity theft and submitted FIR applications against 504 electricity thieves, with 222 FIRs registered and 34 individuals arrested. Notably, large agricultural and commercial consumers were also found engaged in electricity theft, resulting in their disconnection and significant detection bill charges.
Source: Pro Pakistani