Nepra Fines LESCO Rs. 25 Million Over Violations

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has imposed a Rs. 25 million fine on the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO). Fine has been imposed for LESCO’s failure to control rising transmission and distribution losses and improve bill recovery during the fiscal year 2023–24. In its order, NEPRA said LESCO’s system losses surged by 4.04 percent, reaching 15.92 percent which caused an estimated Rs. 47.6 billion loss to the national exchequer. The regulator directed the company to deposit the fine within 15 days, citing serious inefficiencies and non-compliance with performance targets. NEPRA stated that it had issued a show-cause notice to LESCO earlier after reviewing discrepancies in performance data. However, the company failed to provide satisfactory explanations or evidence to justify its poor results. The authority observed that despite repeated directives, LESCO continued to underperform, causing a significant financial burden on the power sector through persistent line losses and weak recovery. In a similar move, NEPRA also imposed a Rs. 25 million fine on K-Electric (KE) for operational lapses during the nationwide power breakdown in January 2023. Following a detailed inquiry, the regulator found KE responsible for internal deficiencies that contributed to the system failure. NEPRA rejected the company’s explanations as unsatisfactory, stating that KE could not shift the blame entirely onto the National Grid. The report highlighted serious flaws in KE’s Black Start system, which is designed to restore power generation independently during a national outage. Despite prior testing, the mechanism failed to activate effectively during the emergency, exposing technical weaknesses and poor preparedness. NEPRA directed both utilities to submit proof of fine payment within 15 days, reaffirming that operational inefficiency and negligence will not be tolerated in Pakistan’s power distribution system.