A LESCO bill wrongly stamped by EasyPaisa shopkeeper


Today, in the morning I was shocked to know through a local newspaper that LESCO has refused to acknowledge the payments of the LESCO customers that they have made to Telenor EasyPaisa Outlets.


Really upset, I called the LESCO (Lahore Electricity Supply Company) to know the truth and their representative from the Revenue department confirmed the status and said,” we are not getting any sort of payments from Telenor or Tameer Bank as there is no agreement between LESCO and Telenor/Tameer Bank so far”.
>

He further told that “If you have paid your amount already then you better get it back from the outlet you paid and pay it to the recognized bank the way you have been doing for years or otherwise you will have to pay the arrears next time you get the bill”.



I called the Tameer Bank to know how the bank is going to clear this issue or if they will be able to pay my amount back, a Lahore based senior officer of the bank confirmed me that there is no agreement between LESCO and Tameer bank so far and Tameer bank is currently using KASB Bank to pay the amounts to LESCO.

To my question that why Telenor and Tameer bank came forward to collect the money from the people of Pakistan without establishing a system and network, he was speechless first and then tried to clear the situation he said, “Tameer bank is going to have an agreement with LESCO in the coming week and if you get your next month’s bill with arrears, don’t worry and it will be ok, your money is safe”.


I am not satisfied because I never checked the stamp at first on my bill that the shopkeeper had put on my bill as I had a trust on the company but today I checked the stamp it was ridiculous, the stamp was telling that I had paid a bill of December 2009 whereas I paid the bill of October 2009.


I asked this to the guy representing Tameer Bank and he told, “You must go back and get the stamp changed”.

Well, it is pinching, that if Tameer Bank tries to clear my amount in the next month or they are able enter into an agreement with the LESCO; even then my bill will not be paid because a wrong stamp by shopkeeper had completely changed my transaction from the very instance I paid him.

I refer to the lines of my previous blog, Telenor says, its EasyPaisa service has revolutionized the country and thousands of people are transacting through their service, this was said by Mr. Usman Javed, Head of Marketing, Telenor Pakistan in a television show. On the very second day after the launch of the service, he claimed that the response is overwhelming and thousands of people are paying their utility bills through Telenor EasyPaisa.

I again say, the service is no doubt a good activity by why Telenor found it necessary to deceive people of Pakistan when they did not have the proper arrangements. Telenor people say that whenever a service is launched there are always glitches, but I say, why it always happens. The company was conducting test exercise for the last one month that means it was collecting money from their employees and the entire network of shopkeepers without any legal standing?

Lahore is a population of over 10 Million and if 5% of the population trusted Telenor and paid their electricity bills in the month of October, we can expect a huge amount of money that the company/bank collected on LESCOs’ behalf.

Why Telenor and Tameer Bank spent Millions of Ruppees on marketing and advertisement at a very immature stage when they knew it from the very first day that it is not going to work. I ask them, isn’t it a foul play or if I used a little technical language, it may be called a fraud or financial scam.

It is always the right of customer to know before what he pays and what for? State Bank, PTA and all the concerned authorities must take these kinds of things very seriously because it may please few people to see that how speedily Pakistan is forwarding towards Mobile Banking but there has to be a proper frame work and guidelines before any activity.

ALL THAT GLITTER IS NOT GOLD