20-year licences issued to seven DISCOs

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has issued separate licences of the Suppliers of Last Resort (SoLR) to seven electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) for 20 years with retrospective effect, ie, from April 27, 2023. The licences will remain valid till April 26, 2043.

“The authority approves the grant of supplier licences to DISCOs (to act as SoLR) in terms of Section 23E and 23F of the Nepra Act on the terms and conditions as set out in the said licence,” said Nepra in seven separate decisions.

Supplier licences have been issued to Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco), Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco), Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco), Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) and Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco).

It may be recalled that Nepra has already granted supplier licence to the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) on the same terms and conditions.

Read NEPRA considers hike of Rs4.66/unit

“The authority has considered Rule-7 of the Supplier Rules which stipulates that the minimum term of such licence will be twenty years. In this regard, the authority observes that in terms of Section 23E of the Nepra Act, all the existing distribution licensees had a deemed supplier status for a period of five years from the commencement of the 2018 Amendment Act which lapsed on April 26, 2023.

“In order to avoid a legal vacuum, the authority fixes the term of this licence for twenty years commencing from April 27, 2023 up to April 26, 2043,” said the decision.

“Before the 2018 amendments in the Nepra Act, the supply function was embedded in the distribution licences of distribution companies that performed both distribution and supply functions. After the said amendments, the legislature bifurcated the distribution and supply functions wherein the distribution segment was retained in Section 21 of the Nepra Act and for supply, a new provision, ie, Section 23E, was incorporated.

“The proviso to Section 23E(1) provided the deemed status of supplier licensees to all the distribution companies who possessed distribution licences at the time of notification of the 2018 Amendment Act for a period of five years from the date of commencement of the 2018 Amendment Act,” it said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2023.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.