K-P defeats hike plan

Expiry of ordinance which authorised Nepra to increase tariff saves consumers in K-P from rise in their monthly bills.

ISLAMABAD: The expiry of the presidential ordinance which authorised the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to make electricity tariff increases saved millions of consumers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) from what could have been a steep rise in their monthly utility bills.

The K-P government told a red-faced Nepra that the law does not permit them to make changes in power tariffs, as the provincial government pointed out the authority’s fault during the course of correspondence between the two entities over the issue.

The provincial government had told Nepra that the presidential ordinance, which empowered the authority to hike the electricity tariff on a quarterly basis, had already lapsed last month.

“The termination of the said ordinance had foiled an attempt by Nepra to increase its tariff,” said Shumail Butt, the legal & constitutional consultant of the K-P government. He also told The Express Tribune that Nepra’s move to increase its tariff for K-P consumers was unconstitutional and without legal authority. It may be mentioned that Nepra, on an initiative by the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco), had informed the provincial government last month that Pesco intends to enhance its electricity rates between Rs4 and Rs4.7 per unit per month (PUPM) for its residential, commercial and industrial consumers.

Also, an increase of Rs3 and Rs4 per unit per month was proposed for agricultural tube wells consuming less than and more than 5 kilowatts of electricity, respectively.

A similar increase for the consumers in Azad Jammu and Kashmir was also proposed by Pesco.

The K-P government hence challenged these amendments by stating that the lapse of the ordinance eradicates the possibility of the proposed changes, adding that frequent monthly increases by Pesco were unfair.

“The general public is already suffering from the heavy burden of the electricity tariff. They cannot afford another increase,” Shumail Butt remarked while explaining the rules and regulations prescribed in the Nepra act.

It may be mentioned that Pesco increased its tariff by 27 per cent last month following the withdrawal of a constitutional petition filed by the K-P government against the increase in the Peshawar High Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2010.