Only 47 per cent consumers paid for electricity in Pakistan

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The Pakistan government has failed to collect Rs 495 billion worth of electricity bills in the last eleven months, taking the recovery ratio to 47 per cent, one of the lowest ever in the country's history.

According to The Express Tribune, the unrecovered amount is twice more than what the government claims is the circular debt, which has caused massive load-shedding across the country, leading to riots across Punjab and Khyber-Pakthunkhwa.

According to a fact sheet, from July to May 2011-12, all the distribution companies billed consumers Rs 895.3 billion while collection remained at only Rs 400.8 billion.

The low collection will make it difficult for power distribution companies to payback power generation companies and aggravate the power crisis.

The collection has significantly dipped despite the fact that the government has obtained a 325 million dollars loan from the Asian Development Bank to improve the efficiency of power distribution companies.

According to the details, February was the worst month in terms of collection, closely followed by October. November was the only month when the collection rose to 71 per cent.

A senior government functionary attributed political interference in running the affairs of the distribution companies as the main reason behind deterioration of an extreme nature.