Lesco teams ‘harassing’ consumers for recovery of bills

LAHORE: Consumers have criticised the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) field officials for allegedly harassing and disconnecting power supply unlawfully on the pretext of recovery of dues in the city.

On the other hand, the office of the Lahore commissioner has also decided to take the matter up with senior Lesco officials in a meeting scheduled for Tuesday (July 14) after it was approached to intervene and resolve the matter.

“A Lesco team came to our house on Saturday and started pressuring us to pay the bill immediately, failing which they threatened to remove the meter, disconnecting the power supply. I told the team that my bill is for just the month of July and the due date has just passed. There is no previous bill pending to be paid on my part. So, I thought to pay the bill with the next month’s bill,” revealed a consumer of Attari Saroba on Ferozepur Road.

He claimed the team continued exerting pressure to pay the bill immediately or be ready for power disconnection. “I told them that I am not a defaulter and under the law, Lesco should have printed on the bill about this. But they (the official) not only misbehaved but also pressured me to pay the bill. Finally, we paid the bill,” the consumer deplored, demanding the Lesco admin to take action.

Talking to Dawn, Nishtar Tehsil Assistant Commissioner Saleem Aasi shared the removal of electricity meters of some consumers in Lahore GOR-1 without any notice or information.

“They (the Lesco officials) removed meters and disconnected the power supply a couple of days before without any notice. Their behaviour was also not good,” he criticised.

Some consumers from Johar Town, Thokar Niaz Beg, Multan Road, Gulberg and other parts of the city also complained against Lesco teams for pressuring them to pay the bill on the spot or face action. “It is simply harassment,” he deplored.

It is worth mentioning that power disconnection through removal of meters cannot be done until non-payment of the bill pending for the current and previous month. However, for some months, Lesco teams continued to cut connections even for non-payment of bills for a single month.

When contacted, Ameer Hussain, PSO to Lahore Commissioner, said a meeting with Lesco officers had been scheduled for Tuesday in which this issue would also be taken up along with others.

“After we came to know about Lesco teams harassing people on the pretext of bill recovery, we decided to also include this issue in the agenda items of the meeting,” he told this reporter.

“We will ask Lesco not to do this with citizens,” he added.

When contacted, Lesco Chief Executive Officer Ramzan Butt said that those consumers who failed to pay a single month’s bill were seen as defaulters.

According to him, previously those consumers who failed to pay bills consecutively for two months had their power cut. However, later it was decided to also consider those consumers as defaulters who had not paid a single month’s bill. When asked about the allegations of harassment by Lesco teams, he dispelled the impression, stating that largely there were no such complaints.

“I will check and take action against officials involved in such practices,” he pledged.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2026 ...