Recovery of gas bills: People complain of harassment at hands of private inspectors
Recovery of gas bills: People complain of harassment at hands of private inspectors
By Atif Khan
ISLAMABAD: The residents of several sectors have complained that recovery inspectors of a private company are harassing them, breaking into their houses to demand payment of bills outstanding against previous occupants.Cap International has been awarded contract by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) for the recovery of arrears from the defaulters.Rehana Hashmi, a resident of Sector F-7/2, told Daily Times on Wednesday that one of the company’s recovery inspectors tried to enter her house on Tuesday. When guard tried to stop him, he forcibly entered the house and threatened her of dire consequences, she said.Hashmi said the same person came back in the evening with some unpaid Sui gas bills and started misbehaving with her. She told him that she had been paying bills regularly and also produced receipts of the paid bills.She said the inspector showed her some unpaid bills, which were in the name of Ms Tauseef Zehra, former owner of the house, who sold her house nine years ago. She said she had been allotted a new consumer number after transferring the gas meter to her name, which was ample proof that she had not defaulted on payments. Kazim Ali Shah, a resident of Sector F-8, said the company employees asked him to deposit Rs 20,000, which was not paid by the property’s previous owner. “When I contacted the company’s private bill collection manager, he told me that I have to deposit the money as the SNGPL has provided them defaulters’ list, which carried my name,” he said.Residents of Sectors F-10 and G-6 made similar complaints and appealed to the higher authorities to intervene into the matter. They feared that in the guise of company’s inspectors, terrorists could enter the houses.When contacted, Jameel Bhatti, an officer at the company in question, told Daily Times that according to the law, the property, not the owner, was declared defaulter. He, however, admitted that wrong notices might have been served on the residents. He denied that his company’s employees were harassing the people. “In case of wrong notices, our company apologises to the complainants, whose names will be removed from the lists,” he added.The SNGPL officials said they were also receiving complaints of harsh attitude of the recovery inspectors, but could not interfere into their affairs.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\07\10\story_10-7-2008_pg11_3
By Atif Khan
ISLAMABAD: The residents of several sectors have complained that recovery inspectors of a private company are harassing them, breaking into their houses to demand payment of bills outstanding against previous occupants.Cap International has been awarded contract by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) for the recovery of arrears from the defaulters.Rehana Hashmi, a resident of Sector F-7/2, told Daily Times on Wednesday that one of the company’s recovery inspectors tried to enter her house on Tuesday. When guard tried to stop him, he forcibly entered the house and threatened her of dire consequences, she said.Hashmi said the same person came back in the evening with some unpaid Sui gas bills and started misbehaving with her. She told him that she had been paying bills regularly and also produced receipts of the paid bills.She said the inspector showed her some unpaid bills, which were in the name of Ms Tauseef Zehra, former owner of the house, who sold her house nine years ago. She said she had been allotted a new consumer number after transferring the gas meter to her name, which was ample proof that she had not defaulted on payments. Kazim Ali Shah, a resident of Sector F-8, said the company employees asked him to deposit Rs 20,000, which was not paid by the property’s previous owner. “When I contacted the company’s private bill collection manager, he told me that I have to deposit the money as the SNGPL has provided them defaulters’ list, which carried my name,” he said.Residents of Sectors F-10 and G-6 made similar complaints and appealed to the higher authorities to intervene into the matter. They feared that in the guise of company’s inspectors, terrorists could enter the houses.When contacted, Jameel Bhatti, an officer at the company in question, told Daily Times that according to the law, the property, not the owner, was declared defaulter. He, however, admitted that wrong notices might have been served on the residents. He denied that his company’s employees were harassing the people. “In case of wrong notices, our company apologises to the complainants, whose names will be removed from the lists,” he added.The SNGPL officials said they were also receiving complaints of harsh attitude of the recovery inspectors, but could not interfere into their affairs.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\07\10\story_10-7-2008_pg11_3
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