Nepra raises power tariff by Rs0.32 per unit

CCPA proposed the rise in power tariff.

ISLAMABAD: National electric Regulatory Authority (Nepra) raised the power tariff by 32 paisa per unit for the month of September, Express News reported on Wednesday.

According to Nepra, the increase in tariff was proposed by the Central Power Purchases Agency on account of monthly fuel adjustment.

The increase in electricity rates is applicable to all electric distribution companies except for Karachi Electric Supply Corporation.

Power tariff hike

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on October 22 had said that the government had put all the burden of line losses on electricity consumers, who were paying bills regularly.

He was leading a three-judge bench that scrutinised the mechanism of the Nepra to determine power tariff.

Justice Chaudhry had noted that electricity generated from oil and gas could not be priced equal. “The power generated through gas should cost less to consumers and its price should also be different from oil-generated electricity,” he had added.

Nepra Chairman Khawaja Naeem had told the court that the authority assigned different power tariffs to different companies. “The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) is the most efficient company; therefore, its tariff is lower as compared to other companies,” Naeem had said.

He had admitted that the government was providing subsidy to the inefficient companies, and that Nepra would not have increased tariff if the government had not withdrawn the subsidy.

“Nepra is trying to give relief to the poor as 30%-40% consumers are using less than 50 units and the government is receiving Rs2 per unit from them,” he had added.

The court had asked the Nepra chief how the authority could increase tariff without allowing the stakeholders to participate in the process.

Expressing its resolve to give a judgment on Nepra’s process of tariff determination, the court had suggested to the chairman to engage a counsel.

During the hearing, the Nepra chairman had failed to satisfy the bench about the procedure to determine tariff.

The court had also sought from Nepra complete record of the public hearing regarding increase in power tariff during August and October, and issued notice to attorney general of Pakistan to appear before the court on the next date of hearing.

On October 11, Nepra had reissued the notification of the nearly 30% increase in electricity prices with no big changes.