Electric bills to significantly rise soon
PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
ISLAMABAD. The country’s power regulator--the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday approved a hike in the national average power tariff by Rs4.96 per unit for the current fiscal year, in line with a condition imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
If Nepra’s decision is implemented, the electric bills of all domestic power consumers will significantly increase. For those consuming 100 units of electricity, the monthly tariff will increase from Rs13.4 to Rs18.36 per unit, resulting in a bill of Rs1,836, excluding taxes and other charges.
The tariff for 200 units per month will be set at Rs23.91 per unit, causing the bill to increase from Rs3,700 to Rs4,700. Similarly, for a monthly usage of 300 units, the bill will rise from Rs6,000 to Rs8,000.
Electric bill for the household using 400 units will rise from Rs10,000 to Rs12,300 per month. Those consuming 500 units will witness an increase in their electricity bill from Rs13,000 to Rs16,000. Users with a monthly consumption of 700 units will experience a hike in their bill from Rs24,000 to Rs28,000.
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Taxes, surcharges, capacity payment, and monthly fuel adjustment will also apply to all users.
“The revised national average tariff for the FY2023-24 has been determined as Rs29.78/kWh, which is Rs.4.96/kWh higher than the previously determined national average tariff of Rs24.82/kWh,” the power regulator said in a press release on Friday.
It added that the increase in the tariff was “mainly due to overall low sales growth, rupee devaluation, high inflation, exorbitant interest rates and addition of new capacities”, among other factors.
“The determined tariffs are intimated to the federal government to file a uniform tariff application. The uniform tariff so determined by Nepra after incorporating the amount of subsidy/surcharges as intimated by the government, is notified by the government to be charged from the consumers,” it said.