News Desk |
The government of Pakistan has decided to introduce pre-paid meters in order to reduce circular debt in the power sector, sources said on Monday.
The decision was taken at Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting which was held under the chair of Finance Minister Asad Umar in Islamabad.
The ECC also decided to cut down illegal connections from across the country within three months. It was observed in the meeting that the introduction of pre-paid meters would help in cutting down the theft of electricity.
The coordination committee, in the meeting, also decided to take action against power thieves. Finance Minister Asad Umar directed the power department to take action against all power thieves without any discrimination.
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Further, a suggestion to introduce pre-paid system was also tabled in the meeting. Following the recommendation, Asad Umar directed power companies to take measures for the introduction of pre-paid system in the country.
The committee also decided to form a body which will be responsible to ensure implementation of the newly suggested system. As per experts, pre-paid system will help reducing number of power thieves in the country.
It is pertinent to mention here that the circular debt of power is over 1,200 and to overcome this circular debt, measures are a must. It was also observed in the meeting that power thieves cause increase in the circular debt.