Inquiry finds unjustified charges in LESCO’s inflated bills; officials blindly paid millions without confirmation
LAHORE:
A major financial irregularity in Pakistan Railways has come to light, showing that over Rs 110 million. in fake electricity payments were made after the allotment of fake residential quarters.
According to an investigative report obtained by Express News, the Railways Vigilance Directorate has confirmed that the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) issued inflated and unjustified electricity bills for three railway housing colonies in 2023.
The report, completed by the Director General Vigilance and sent to Managing Director of Pakistan Railways Aamir Ali Baloch, stated that although LESCO had installed individual meters every quarter, the company continued to send consolidated collective bills to the railway administration.
These included excessive fixed charges and adjustments, which investigators said led to over Rs 110 million being fraudulently charged.
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The investigation further revealed that the Electrical Department of the Railway Workshops Division made payments to LESCO without doing any verification, check or investigation. Officials responsible for reviewing the bills allegedly processed the payments blindly, causing significant financial losses to the department.
The report cited negligence on the part of Divisional Electrical Engineer (Works), Senior Electrical Engineer (Workshops) and wireman, noting that their failure to carry out basic supervision facilitated the bogus payments.
It also pointed out that many of the officers involved have held the same posts for several years despite the railways’ rotation policy, which was not implemented.
The Vigilance Directorate has recommended strict departmental action against the officials responsible for dereliction of duty and called for the rotation policy to be enforced immediately to prevent similar cases in future.
