Broken System

Broken system

I was out with my niece getting some medication for my mother and when we turned onto the street the house was on I saw my sister standing in the middle of the street looking very stressed. She was holding papers and talking to some neighbors, I asked my niece what was going on and she said that it was a problem with the electric bill.

Soon after we entered the house my sister came back, I asked her to tell me what was going on. She said that the electric company came to shut off the electric. I assumed that it may have been a problem with the billing but the bill had been paid on time.

For the last three months when the electric company came to check our meter they noticed that when there was no power in our area our lights were still on and the fan would be running. They thought we were stealing the electric, in actuality we had a generator. Because they thought we were stealing the electric the bill was $400 dollars rather than the normal $25 dollars. My sister was talking to the neighbors and those men convinced the company to give us 24 hours.  

I was speechless and shocked that they could assume that we were stealing the electric and just shut it down. It would be miserable for all of us and especially my sick mother. We decided to go to the company and pay whatever we owed, she looked really worried and so I came with her. This was my first time dealing with this kind of issue and I wanted to know how it worked so that there wouldn’t be any problems in the future. When we went there we asked them to look at our past bills too to make sure that they had been paid. My sister and I went to the manager and explained what was happening. He questioned why we had electricity and my sister was looking very mad as she explained that we have a generator. If the people who came to check had noticed that it was extremely loud they would have understood that it was because a generator was running. 

He asked if we got an air conditioner and my sister hesitantly said yes, but further explained that it was for our sick mother not for our comfort. He accepted that they made a mistake but we still needed to pay the full high amount now and we would be refunded the following month. Later I asked my sister why she didn’t want him to know we had an AC and she said because it was none of their business. If they think we’re doing something for no reason they have a reason to increase the bill. I agree with why she did that but I didn’t like that we had to feel bad about having an AC.

There is a system in Pakistan known as the Kunda system. It is a method of stealing electricity without getting caught or having to pay extra fees. Basically people are stealing electricity directly from the main street wire. They attach the electric wire directly from the main street wire to their home electricity. They turn off the home meters and get as much electricity as they want without getting billed. They also don’t have to worry about power outages. It’s cheating and seemingly everyone does it. I know we aren’t the kind of people who would cheat and that is another reason why life there is much harder for honest people.  They can get caught but usually if you bribe the person then they will leave you alone. It’s a very wrong and sad system that is running.

The country dynamic has changed since I was there 7 years ago. Though the countries 

problems are getting worse the young generation is looking forward to their future so that they 

can leave and have a brighter future. I understand why they feel that way, I was there only for a 

month and I knew a month later I would be gone but in that month I felt overwhelmed and 

stressed. There is no proper system running in any area and people are scared and worried 

about each day. I miss my family dearly but I can’t say the same about my country.