Investigation reveals unjustified charges in LESCO’s inflated invoices; officials paid millions blindly without verification
LAHORE:
A major financial irregularity in Pakistan Railways has been exposed, showing that over Rs 110 million in bogus electricity payments were made following the allocation of fake residential quarters.
According to an investigation report obtained by Express News, the Directorate of Railway Vigilance has confirmed that the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) had issued inflated and unjustified electricity bills for three railway residential colonies in 2023.
The report, completed by Vigilance Managing Director and forwarded to Pakistan Railways Managing Director Aamir Ali Baloch, said that although LESCO had installed individual meters every quarter, the company continued to send consolidated collective invoices to the railway administration.
These included fixed charges and excessive adjustments that investigators say led to fraudulent invoices of more than 110 million rupees.
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The investigation further revealed that the Electrical Department of the Railway Workshops Division made payments to LESCO without carrying out any verification, monitoring or investigation. Officials responsible for reviewing the invoices allegedly processed the payments blindly, causing substantial financial losses to the ministry.
The report cites negligence on the part of the divisional electrical engineer (works), senior electrical engineer (workshops) and cableman, noting that their failure to carry out basic supervision facilitated false payments.
He also pointed out that many of the affected officers have been in the same positions for several years, despite the railways’ rotation policy not being implemented.
The Vigilance Directorate has recommended strict departmental action against the officials responsible for dereliction of duty and urged that the rotation policy be implemented immediately to prevent similar cases from reoccurring in the future.
