Corruption and Inefficiency in the Delivery of Public Utilities: Case Study of Electricity Services

The corruption in the electricity sector is spread in nearly all areas and almost in all forms including particularly grand and petty corruption. The major areas prone to petty corrupt practices in the electricity sector are the billing department and procurement section. Usually people complain to have faced troubles of overbilling, inaccurate meter reading, and getting connections. In addition to these irregularities in the procurement, leakages of financial resources, undisrupted electricity supply for influential consumers and lack of transparency are the common features of the electricity sector in all the developing countries. In this study the determinants of petty corruption in the Electricity Department in the slum areas of Karachi have been identified using the data collected from the slums dwellers. The study also highlights the weaknesses of the electricity service providers and suggests possible solutions to the issue at hand. Keywords: Petty Corruption, Public Services and Electricity Services