FIA, Lesco detect electricity theft of millions of rupees
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): FIA Electricity, Gas and Oil Anti-theft (EGOA) Unit along with Lesco technical team conducted a raid and detected electricity theft of worth millions of rupees, said spokesman of FIA on Thursday. He said that FIA received secret information that a transformer repairing workshop in Rehmanpura area Sheikhupora Road Lahore was involved in direct supply of electricity theft of millions of rupees. FIA constituted a team and conducted a raid wherein electricity theft was detected; Spokesman said that loss is being calculated. Accused owner namely Naveed has been arrested on spot and case has been registered against him.

Malaysian cooking oil brand enters
Pakistani market
KARACHI (INP): Pan Century Edible Oils Sdn Bhd’s cooking oil, under the brand name “Century” has entered the lucrative Pakistan market. For the first time, a 100 per cent produced and packed Malaysian palm vegetable cooking oil is available in Pakistan, said the Consul General of Malaysia in Karachi, Pakistan, Abu Bakar Mamat. Century cooking oil will be available in 25 litres and 10 litres for commercial use and one and five liters for household consumers, he said.  Imported by a local firm, Khalil Pvt Ltd, the cooking oil will first be marketed in Karachi, Pakistan’s financial centre. “Soon it will enter Lahore, as well as, Islamabad,” said Abu Bakar.
The Consulate would continue to facilitate efforts by Malaysian companies to expand the presence of Malaysian brands in Pakistan, he said.

Ogra asked to ease policy for opening LPG auto gas stations
ISLAMABAD (NNI): - The LPG Distributors Association has called upon the concerned authorities to ease policy for opening LPG auto gas stations for providing cheaper and environment-friendly fuel to consumers. The association’s Chairman Irfan Khokhar said govt could not afford for long to provide gas to the CNG sector, thus, he added, the government could promote the LPG as alternate fuel to take effective steps for encouraging opening of LPG auto gas stations, across the country. He said hundreds of applications had been pending with hefty security and inspection amounts before the OGRA but it was dragging its feet to grant licences on pretext or the other for opening LPG stations, he added.
According to official source the OGRA issued two licences for construction of LPG storage and filling plants during July-December 2013.
He said the LPG association would be fully co-operating with the government by presenting workable proposals to resolve issues for promoting LPG to extend immediate relief to consumers who were already faced with high prices of daily- use commodities.

Iesco fails to recover Rs26b
from defaulters
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Despite all the efforts made by the Ministry of Water and Power, IESCO has failed to recover more than Rs26b from the defaulters so far. 49 govt and semi-govt institutions have been issued final notices to pay their arrears till June 23.  Ministry has directed IESCO to recover the arrears from the defaulters  and to disconnect electricity of those who do not pay the bills within the deadline.  Azad Kashmir govt is defaulting over Rs25.17b, Parliament Lodges Rs19.7m, Defence Ministry over Rs318.15m, Chaklala Cantt Board Rs305.13m, TMA Rawal Town Rs182m, Rawalpindi Cantt Board Rs114.1m Islamabad Police Rs38.9m, Parliament House Rs4.9m and Pak Secretariat Rs28.2m.


Other defaulters included PWD, Ministry of Housing and Works, Health Ministry, FIA, Balochistan House, Sindh House, NHA, Punjab Police and a hospital run by the federal govt.

Mobicash retailer footprint

ISLAMABAD (Staff Reporter): Mobicash retailer footprint has spread to more than 35,000 retailers across Pakistan in just 18 months. The milestone renders Mobicash as the fastest growing Mobile Financial Services (MFS) footprint in the country. Led by Mobilink’s robust sales and distribution model, Mobicash possesses the second largest MFS retail network in Pakistan, with the total value of transactions being over Rs18 billion in 2014 alone. Mobicash started with 1,000 retailers in Nov, 2012. The rapid growth of agent network has had a significant impact on transaction volume, which stands at above 7.3 million in 2014, growing by more than 190% over the same period last year.
Aniqa Afzal Sandhu, Director Mobicash commenting on the achievement said, “Mobicash aims as taking financial services to the remotest regions in the country. Our strategy of increased retail agent activity has resulted in the deployment of effective channel management processes and manifested Mobicash as the most trusted channel of money transaction.
I am confident that Mobicash retailer network will continue to play a significant role in developing the branchless banking ecosystem in Pakistan.’’ The Mobile Financial Services industry remains pre-dominantly an over-the-counter (OTC) market as 98% of customers use OTC services for transactions making the role of retailers critical for growth.
Mobilink started its operations in November 2012 in collaboration with Waseela Microfinance Bank and offers over-the-counter services which include utility bill payment, money sending and receiving facility and a bouquet of services through Mobile Wallet solution. Mobilink’s retailers are strategically spread between rural and urban areas to maximize financial outreach across Pakistan.