NEPRA approves Re0.83 per unit increase in power tariff

Increase will be collected in October bills; price hike to not apply to KE customers

ISLAMABAD:

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) approved on Thursday an increase of Rs0.83 per unit in the power tariff.

The national power regulatory authority's notification stated that the price hike was made in context of fuel price adjustment made in July.

“The increase will be collected in October bills, however, the increase in electricity prices will not apply to K- Electric customers,” the notification stated.

Expensive electricity would impose an additional burden of more than Rs10 billion on consumers.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill said that electricity had become more expensive due to the agreements made by the previous governments.

On wheat prices, Gill said that the rise was due to low harvest in the country. About 1.5 million tonnes of wheat would be available in the country before the end of the year.

“To teach hoarders a lesson, the prime minister has directed to procure and subsidize more wheat, to break the backs of hoarders,” Gill added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said “the corrupt gang has increased the price of electricity by 83 paisa per unit today. Rs10 billion has been looted from the pockets of the people.”

She added that, "food prices have risen by 70 to 80 per cent in just three months, whereas lawsuits were being filed to divert attention".

On the decision of fuel price adjustment, member Sindh NEPRA said in a dissenting note that the burden of running the power plant against the merit order was being placed on the consumers.

On October 7, the Power Division told the federal cabinet the government would have to increase electricity rates by Rs6.06 per unit in a bid to clear the backlog of circular debt in the financial year 2023.

In a recent briefing, the Power Division said the circular debt base case stood at Rs450 billion in financial year 2018 that went up to Rs850 billion in financial year 2020. It is expected to rise to Rs1.6 trillion in financial year 2023.

It added that the government had funded Rs177 billion in the financial year 2020, injected Rs125 billion in power sector through tariff increase and Rs12 billion due to improvement in power distribution companies (DISCOS). These measures resulted in reducing circular debt base case to Rs538 billion.