Quest for relief

The caretakers have grit, we must give them that much. The crackdown on electricity theft is in full swing and has even given dividends to the tune of some Rs7.8 billion, if the tweets of Rashid Langrial, the federal secretary, are to be believed. Thousands of FIRs have been registered and perpetrators have also been named and shamed. This is serious business and such heavy-handedness has made it evident that the interim setup is not here for mere lip service.

Citizens on the other hand are awaiting when, or if at all, this will be reflected in their dreaded electricity bills, which currently show no signs of abating. Unfortunately, the nightmare is far from over, as IMF has blatantly rejected the current relief proposal for consumers using more than 200 units a month. The IMF justification, albeit unsympathetic, is spot on when it says that such relief will do little to bring down circular debt, which is where the crux lies. This shows that much is to be desired on the diplomatic front and negotiation tactics need to be backed by pragmatic proposals that have fallen short. With apprehensions and uncertainty looming large, Nepra has given the green light for a Rs3.28 tariff hike for the next six months. This has frustratingly been done to finance the attentional impact that certain factors have had on capacity charges — bringing us back to square one. This isn’t a lanbringthine challenge as much as people like it to believe and it will be foolish to believe that all paths do not converge on the same end.

What is imperative now is a de-tangling of the entire energy structure and fierce negotiations with IPPs. This will take some doing and with an iron hand, but before this, a sustainable alternative need to be formulated on paper. All is not gloomy however as citizens might soon find some relief on the back of the slowly recovering greenback that might cause petrol prices to drop by around Rs12 next month, as the caretaker commerce minister hints at.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2023.

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