NA body concerned over quality of service in various Discos

National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatisation has expressed concerns over the quality of service in various DISCOs and noted that the government would unlikely to fetch the right price if these are privatised mainly due to the huge accumulated losses and negative equity.

The meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatisation was held under the chairmanship of Syed Mustafa Mahmud. In the meeting, the privatisation of Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) under DISCOs' privatisation programme was discussed. The committee considered the performance indicators of MEPCO and its privatisation status as it is one of the largest power distribution companies across Pakistan. The MEPCO officials presented the financial and operational data of the company.

They also highlighted the challenges being faced due to the pending receivables. The MEPCO officials also showed their reservations on the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Model (CTBCM) approved by the NEPRA. They expressed that the model has made certain unrealistic assumptions and can impact future privatisation or concession contract model being envisaged for the revival of DISCOs. These DISCOs will remain the last resort suppliers but the cost associated with this eventuality is not accounted for by the regulator as well as the standard cost. This unfortunately would not provide the level playing field to DISCOs due to its inherent flaw which will let the Bulk Power Consumer (BPC) to opt for a private sector supplier which is not bearing the same magnitude of cost.