Govt decides to keep power tariff unchanged

Govt opts to retain average price of electricity for domestic, agricultural consumers at Rs11.52 per unit

ISLAMABAD: In what seems to be a decision heavily influenced by the protests staged by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf  (PTI) in Islamabad, the government on Tuesday decided to keep the electricity tariff unchanged at an average rate of Rs11.52 per unit against a Rs13.81 per unit tariff as suggested by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).

According to a release, the government opted against increasing the tariff for 2013-14 and maintain it at current levels despite a higher determination by Nepra. Tariff calculations and implementations are lagged.

The government had recently has notified a 29 paisa per unit hike as equalisation surcharge which was offset with a reduction of 30 paisa per unit due owing to fuel price adjustment resulting in zero impact on the consumers.

Further, the government said it has also decided to continue paying subsidy for domestic and agricultural consumers to lessen the burden of expensive energy mix in the power generation.

The decision has been taken by the Prime Minister to provide relief to the consumers specially the domestic consumers.