LESCO To Establish Help Desk At Lahore Chamber

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Mar, 2018 ) :On demand of Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), Chief Executive Officer of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) Mujahid Pervaiz Chattah on Wednesday announced to establish LESCO Help Desk at the LCCI.

He announced this in a meeting with business community at Lahore Chamber, where LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid, Senior Vice President Khawaja Khawar Rashid, Vice President Zeshan Khalil and Executive Committee Members were also present.

The LESCO Chief also agreed with the LCCI President that mindset of LESCO staff should be changed that would resolve various problems automatically. "LESCO really needs change in mindset and I am doing a lot in this regard along with my dedicated team," he added.

To a question, LESCO chief said that depreciation ratio on transformers was five percent annually and it was policy of NEPRA and LESCO had approached for a reasonable change. He said that system for purchasing of meters had been changed after establishment of NEPRA, citing that earlier, LESCO was able to negotiate but now contract had to be given the lowest bidder.

He said action had been taken against the supplier of low quality meters and hopefully situation would be better in the days to come. About load shedding at commercial feeders, Mujahid Pervaiz Chattah said that all industrial feeders were being checked to avoid unscheduled load shedding, however, there were some problems due to load shifting.

He said that technical and commercial losses were the reasons of minor power cuts. "We have firm commitment to get rid of the over billing. We are controlling line losses and have also launched an effective campaign against electricity theft.

We have uncovered power theft at 15 tube-wells in a day at Ferozewala," LESCO chief told the house and added that that LESCO was working aggressively at technical side to control the flaws. He said that 17 new grid stations had been established and upgraded.

Two grid stations had also been made double source with the cost of Rs 1 billion. Earlier, LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid said that cost of new transformers was borne by consumers but when these were replaced or removed, the LESCO team claimed the ownership.

Moreover, the depreciation of transformers was calculated at the rate of 10 percent per annum. In case, the industry remained closed for a year even then depreciation was applied. He said that in case, the load was increased and new transformer was purchased, the old transformer should be handed over to the consumer and be allowed to use that transformer somewhere else or LESCO should purchase it from the consumer to compensate his cost.

He said that if the consumer was responsible for a damaged meter then he should bear the cost of new meter. In case, a meter had got damaged or malfunctioned due to rain, loose connection or negligence of LESCO staff then the cost of replacing new meter should be borne by LESCO.

LCCI President said, "Our members are complaining about low quality of meters being installed by LESCO. Any malfunctioning in these meters, which has nothing to do with consumers, results in heavy penalties.

LESCO should arrange reliable and durable meters which meet all the quality standards." He said that the industry was exempted from load shedding even then there were some industrial feeders where at least two hours load shedding was being done.

The industry was already facing crisis situation and working hard to enhance the exports of country. It was suggested that load shedding should only be done after 8 p.m. so that 90 percent of industry which ran their operation in morning shift did not get suffered.

Malik Tahir Javaid said that LESCO made necessary adjustment in bills upon receiving income tax exemption certificates. However, in the bills of June which were due in July, the same taxes were included and as fiscal year ended in June, therefore, the exemption was applied on bills of June as well.

He said that there were still some issues of meter reading being faced by industry. It was suggested that only experienced and skilled staff members should be appointed in industrial areas for this job.

"If possible, we can introduce meter reading cards to be placed in factories to keep the record of meter reading," he offered. "Many problems can be curtailed if there is a specific timeline for addressing each issue.

In case of general complaint, meter replacement, transformer up-gradation, new connections, we must be able to track the status of our applications. You should ensure that SOPs must be followed to improve the performance of LESCO.

It is strongly suggested that there should be more focus on preventive maintenance of LESCO installations. By way of following the schedule of general maintenance, the issues like tripping and down-time can be reduced," the LCCI president added.

Malik Tahir Javaid said that LESCO also needed to launch electricity conservation campaign in Lahore to create awareness among the consumers about the use of energy. Consumers had to be educated for using particular energy efficient gadgets.

"We need to change the mindset of LESCO support staff. From Chief Engineers to meter readers, all the staff members should practice professionalism with full responsibility and customer care attitude," he concluded.

While, SVP KhawajaKhawar Rashid and Vice President Zeeshan Khalil said that complaint centers did not seriously respond to the complaints of customers. They said that LESCO should introduce Solar System at local level, asserting that electricity shut downs due to maintenance had also become a routine of LESCO but no maintenance work had been seen anywhere in the city.

Mian Muhammad Nawaz, Shahid Nazir Ch, Aziz ur Rehman Chan, Muhammad Arshad Chaudhry, Mian Abdul Razaq, Bao Bashir, Javed Iqbal Bhati, Khaliq Arshad and others were also present. APP/maa/zhr