Islamabad , January 4, 2008: The countrywide electric load shedding has proved inefficiency, mismanagement and governance issues in the policies and practices of concerned authorities of the government. This was stated by Dr. Talib Lashari, Executive Coordinator of TheNetwork for Consumer Protection in Pakistan .

He opined that the government is brushing aside its inefficiency under different pretexts like shortage of water; maintenance of power generating units etc. while root cause remains unattended. The fact remains that no new power generation plants were established during the last ten years which has undermined the capacity of existing plants not only their output in comparison to increasing demand but deteriorated their performance. This indicates towards lack of any medium term and long term planning.

TheNetwork for Consumer Protection points out that due to prevailing load shedding there has been loss to economy due to less productivity in industrial units, offices and business centers etc. The situation in hospitals has aggravated due to non performance of Operation Theaters and other procedures which rely upon electric supply.

There are reports that due to unannounced load shedding and fluctuation in voltages many incidents of damage to home appliances have occurred.

Dr. Lashari on behalf of TheNetwork for Consumer Protection emphasized the need for addressing the issue on short term basis by ensuring proper management and governance of existing power generation capacity while in long term through conducting a situation analysis and developing a policy through participation of people and their representatives.

He also demanded that load shedding be ended or at least concerned authorities should announce proper schedule and duration of power cuts through electronic and print media so that the consumers should not suffer unnecessarily and avoid losses to home appliances. 

Dr. Lashari demanded compensation to consumers under the law regarding loss of electric appliances due to voltage fluctuation.

He stressed the need for inclusion of a consumer protection representative into the decision making process about basic needs like supply of gas, electricity, water  and other basic needs.