The federal government has decided to freeze the monetised cost of free electricity units for the senior employees of power companies and the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) at the existing level for the future, the Power Division announced on Tuesday.
According to a notification, the cabinet had earlier approved the monetisation of free electricity units for the employees of Wapda, ex-Wapda companies, including distribution companies (Discos), generation companies (Gencos), National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) and Power Information Technology Company (PITC) on Oct 26.
The notification said that any change in the rates of monetised units would require prior approval of the federal cabinet. Therefore, the rates notified below would stand frozen.
The notification said that in the first phase, the electricity facility to in-service employees (BS-17 and above) of Wapda, Discos, Gencos, NTDC and PITC has been monetised after calculation of supply tariff issued on July 26, 2023, excluding taxes and duties.
The in-service employees in grade-17 and above would have to pay the electricity bills issued by respective Discos against the reference numbers already available with Discos.
How much will the senior employees of Discos and Wapda get paid?
The notification also provided the details of the revised compensation for different grades of employees in Wapda, Discos, NTDC, and PITC. The revised compensation is based on the monetised cost of free electricity units that the employees were previously entitled to.
For example, the grade-17 employee of Discos and Wapda, who were allowed 450 free units per month, would now receive Rs15,858 per month.
The grade-18 employee of Discos and Wapda, who were entitled to 600 free units per month, would now receive Rs21,996 per month.
The grade-19 employee of Discos and Wapda, who were entitled to 880 free units per month, would now receive Rs37,594 per month.
The grade-20 employee of Discos, Wapda and Gencos, who were entitled to 1,100 free units per month, would now receive Rs46,992 per month.
The grade-21 employee of Discos and Gencos, who were entitled to 1,300 free units per month, would now receive Rs55,536 per month.
For the employees attached to generation companies (Gencos) and power generation stations, the revised compensation is as follows:
The grade-17 employee of Gencos, who were allowed 650 free units per month, would now receive Rs24,570 per month.
The grade-18 employee of Gencos, who were entitled to 700 free units per month, would now receive Rs26,460 per month.
The grade-19 employee of Gencos, who were entitled to 1,000 free units per month, would now receive Rs42,720 per month.
The grade-20 employee of Gencos, who were entitled to 1,100 free units per month, would now receive Rs46,992 per month.
The grade-21 employee of Gencos, who were entitled to 1,300 free units per month, would now receive Rs55,536 per month.
The notification said that the monetisation of free electricity units was aimed at rationalising the electricity consumption and reducing the burden on the national exchequer.
The notification also revealed that the initial proposal did not include Wapda employees, but they have now been incorporated into the revised arrangement after discussions held at a meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office on August 27, 2023, which was attended by the chairman of Wapda.
OMG! Please take this news item off the radar. I feel like hitting the roof.
What is going on is absolutely criminal. The country is always faced with energy shortages and these people are leading a luxurious life at the cost of common man. Even otherwise it makes no sense giving these employees, the former employees, their children and their grand children hundreds of units of electricity free of cost. And now their facility is being monetized. Who made these rules? Why no one is taking notice of this high-handedness?
I am literally paying these people’s electricity bills because the electricity they use has a production cost. It is not produced free. Who pays for this cost? You and I.
When such abnormalities occur in a country, it can never prosper.
Apparently, this may appear a nice move by the government as such perks should be eliminated from the society as they promote waste and encourage conservation of natural resources, but the way this whole matter has been demonized in the media, turned into an issue from a non-issue, and the pats our government is expecting on its back with such decisions is pathetic. It further reinforces our feelings that nothing in our country will change for the better and we will continue our decent into further mess. Those whose perks the government should have withdrawn have once again escaped the axe. Hats off to our government for its imagination and creativity which starts with one fiasco and ends in yet another.
jo grade 16 se 21 tak salary ly rahy hain wo haram ka paisa ha kay..yha units khtam kar ky jo thousand of ruppes die jayain gain yha kahan se ayain gain yha hum main se hi nikalny hain…gov ki job kar rahy hain sab perks ly rahy hai free gov ki cars petrol hum log 40,50 hazar monthly mai guzara kar rahy hain mar gae hai ..Allah bera garak kary jo policy maker hain
AOA,
yeh bilkul galat ho raha hai companies to benefits daty rahty hai is main itny log job kar rahy hai to is sy bijli zyada to nai hoge or rules main changing ho rahe hai. Pakistan ka Allah he Hafiz hai