MULTAN, Jan 14th: Meeting an outstanding demand of local manufacturers, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MEPCO Engr: Tahir Mehmood has exempted the industry of load shedding in Southern Punjab and Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) has declared all the 129 industrial feeders as load shedding-free. He was addressing the members of Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) chaired by Sheikh Fazal Elahi its President. MEPCO chief said that meters of industrial units are being replaced free of cost in case of any technical fault while B-I meter is being placed within 24 hours. Since MEPCO is a commercial entity,it was being run on commercial grounds. He said that we purchase electricity for our consumers and then repay its cost after 30 to 45 days. If we fail to collect the bills from the consumers then we will stand among the defaulters. He disclosed that transformers of 25, 50, and 200 KVA were in abundance and there is no shortage of such transformers.However,there were some hurdles in the availability of 400 and 600 KVA transformers.He said that repair facility of big transformers is available in MEPCO workshop but industrialists should prefer to ask the manufacturing companies for repairing these transformers to escape from any trouble. He assured that MEPCO was ready to provide better services to commercial as well as industrial consumers and we would place B-1 meters after 24 hours of submission of application.If any official creates any troubles or delay the connection advertently then stern action would be taken against such elements. On the demand of MCCI member, he agreed to extend the date of electricity bills and now B-2 connection holders can pay bill upto 25th of every month.Now the ball is in industrialists court, they must adhere to pay electricity bills within due date. MEPCO chief Tahir Mehmood said that Quarterly Tariff Adjustment(QTA) cannot be waived and it would be recovered in all cases. NEPRA had made it part of tariff as per Government Policy.If Government withdraws the QTA ,then they would not force them to pay it. Engr: Tahir Mehmood made it clear that all burnt meters due to tampering or overloading would be replaced after payment of cost.However,meters of technical fault would be replaced free of cost. MEPCO sought financial assistance from the Multan chamber to construct a grid station in Industrial estate to facilitate the industrial consumers. He said that there was no load shedding in Multan, it was a season of repair and renovation from October to February to avoid shut down in summer season. He assured that people would be informed about power shut down through radio, cable, TV channels and newspapers. On the general complaint of delay in provision of domestic connection, he assured that domestic connection would be provided within two weeks since February Ist. He admitted that there were some problems in provision of tubewell connections however,we are trying to overcome all hurdles.He disclosed that MEPCO had provided 6000 power connection for tubewells this year it was a great feat.Otherwise it was sanctioning 2000 connection annually.He said that there would be no or minimum load shedding in 2020, a year of happiness and prosperity. He said we have recommended enhancing the powers of board of directors of MEPCO so that all issues could be resolved locally. He said that disputes with agriculture sector have already been resolved and they are making payments of their outstanding bills. In his welcome address MCCI President Sheikh Fazal Elahi complained that MEPCO had amended its transformers repair policy which caused delay in repair of 25,50,100 and 200 KVA transformers. He said that B-1, B-2, B-3 meters were sealed in ATB box ,In case of any problem,they have to contact concerned SDO which takes 7 to 8 days. This complicated procedue must be eased ,he added. He suggested that date for payment of industrial bills should be extended.He further said that Grid station of Industrial Estate was overloaded with consumers and there was dire need of construction of another grid station. Senior Vice President Mian Rashid Iqbal, Vice President Sheikh Nadeem Ahmed, Former Presidents Khawaja Muhammad Yousaf,Khawaja Muhammad Usman,Mirza Ali Ahmed,Khawaja M. Farooq, Sheikh Muhammad Farooq, Khawaja Muhammad Azam, Khalid Masud, Mian Shafi Anis, Abdul Rehman Qureshi,Ch.Altaf Shahid, Aurangzeb Alamgir, Sheikh Faheem Sattar, Haseebullah Khan, Khawaja Riaz ,Muhammad Shafiq ,Muhammad Akhlaq Qadri, Muhammad Azhar, Nasir Rasheed, Rana Sattar, Waqas Chughtai, Rafiq Abid, Mian Muhammad Anwar and Iqbal Joiya,
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