National Times Bureau :- A major electricity billing scam that sparked statewide concern has now been officially confirmed by Punjab Powercom officials. The issue first came to light after a detailed report published on November 26, exposing large-scale irregularities in manual meter readings across Punjab.
According to departmental sources, meter readers allegedly bypassed the official OCR-based scanning system and instead used manual entries or tampered software to generate fake electricity bills. This manipulation allowed units to be shown below 300, causing significant financial losses to the Powercom department.
The ongoing departmental investigation has revealed multiple cases of bribery and corruption across several divisions in Ludhiana. These include Sunder Nagar, CMC Division, Focal Point, City Centre, Aggar Nagar, State Division, Model Town, Janata Nagar, and City West. Officials have confirmed that more such cases are being traced regularly.
Powercom’s IT cell has prepared a list of all suspicious accounts and forwarded it to both the East and West circles under the Central Zone for verification. Due to the seriousness of the matter, officers and staff worked late into Friday night and even continued investigations on Saturday, despite it being a holiday. Several instances where meter readers colluded with consumers to generate fake bills have already been identified.
Chief Engineer of Powercom, Jagdev Singh Hans, said that a comprehensive inquiry is underway. He added that strict action will follow, including recovering the financial losses from the accused meter readers and terminating their employment if found guilty.
