The citizens blasted the authorities over the provision of free electricity to the Water & Power Development Authority (Wapda) employees and officers after several such alleged bills made rounds on the social media.

Journalist Hamid Mir shared a copy of bill reportedly of a Wapda employee who consumed 1,248 units, charging him a meager amount of Rs716.

“The burden of these Wapda and Disco employees’ bills is also being borne by the public which are battered by inflation. When will the subsidy given to them stop?” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Protests erupted in the country against inflated bills on Saturday as the hashtag “Electricity bills” was among the top trends on social media, with many influencers calling for not paying bills and announcing protests.

Read: How many taxes are you paying in electricity bill?

Traders and citizens in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi and many other cities protested against the hiked bills while many called for not paying bills.

Shoaib Jahangir, a commentator on X, shared an alleged bill of a Wapda employee who consumed 1,547 units in August, and to the surprise of many the Wapda is under debt of the users.

“Last month, a bill was circulating on social media, which belonged to a Wapda employee, in which the bill for 1,219 units was Rs614. Today, while sitting, I thought, why not check the bill of the said person online. When [I] checked, he used 1,547 units this month and Wapda is in debt to him,” he wrote.

Saeed Ahmad Bhalli, another commentator posted a photo reportedly of free units allowed to the Wapda employees and officers.

“Wapda officers from Grade-20 to Grade- 22 use 1,300 units per month for free, Grade-19 use 800 per month, Grade-18 consume 600 per month,” he wrote on X.

Social activist Jibran Nasir also highlighted the issue of inflated electricity bill.

“My Electricity Bill this month is almost as much as my monthly house rent. It is not only because tariffs have increased but also because @KElectricPk claims that compared to July-August last year I consumed 74% more units in July-Aug this year,” he wrote.