Breaking the culture of nonpayment: A qualitative analysis of utility intervention in Pakistan

Reliable electricity access is vital to economic growth, though financial challenges can undermine service quality. In Karachi, Pakistan, the local utility intervened to reduce losses and improve bill revenue recovery. The intervention increased budgets to improve infrastructure, provided staff incentives, and expanded customer engagement activities. We employ qualitative techniques to study managers' and customers’ perceptions of the intervention and the mechanisms driving its effects. While managers credit the multi-pronged nature of the intervention for increasing trust and mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, customers report no increase in trust and focus primarily on infrastructure improvements. •Project Sarbulandi increased budgets for high loss areas and ramped up activities.•General Managers found that activities worked together to improve bill payment.•Infrastructure interventions helped to prevent theft.•Culture of non-payment was impacted by greater customer engagement.•Customer experience more focused on infrastructure changes than customer engagement.