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How 2+2 = 5

ALMAS A. KHAN

LAHORE: Progressive but faulty system of Wapda billing continues to be a source of hardship to the electricity consumers who, having received an estimated bill for a particular month, are required to pay the subsequent bill, including the remainder of actuals for the previous month, on the basis of a higher band of tariff.

A resident of township, who received what seemingly was an estimate of electric consumption of 100 units in the month of June, furnishes a classic example of how he was made to suffer a substantial monetary loss in the following month, when he was asked to pay Rs 1541 to virtually cover the consumption of two months minus the units shown in the estimate. A close scrutiny of the two bills has revealed that had the total consumption of two months been evenly spread over June and July, which was more in line with the pattern of the previous months, the agggregate amount for the whole period would have come down to Rs 1231.02 from the total claim of Rs 1643.

Figures are not available as to the number of subscribers who have a similar complaint, but estimate bills being a frequent practice, the amount pouring into the Wapda coffers as a direct result of the "adjustments" can be anybody's guess, for the simple reason that the higher the bill, the greater the amount of surcharges.

The following projections show the amounts actually demanded and the sum that would have been due if the total consumption of electricity was to be distributed over the period of two months in a realistic way, in line with the previous trend: