ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has reserved its judgment over the tariff hike of Rs1.95 per unit and will take a final decision after detailed verification of facts and figures.
In this regard, NEPRA on Thursday conducted a hearing on the government’s request to approve the increase in electricity rate.
The government has sought an increase in tariff for all categories of electricity consumers, including lifeline consumers. The increase, if approved, will put an additional burden of approximately Rs200 billion on consumers.
Earlier, the regulator had decided to hike the power tariff by Rs3.34 per unit for the year 2019-20. The average tariff stood at Rs13.35 per unit last year, jumped up to Rs16.69 per unit with effect to NEPRA’s last tariff determination.
It may be noted here that the federal cabinet has already approved a hike in tariff through the circulation of a summary.
During the course of Thursday’s hearing, officials from the Power Division informed that the increase in tariff would not be applicable to consumers of K-Electric (KE). However, the regulator said it will hold a separate hearing relating to the tariff for K-Electric consumers.
Present on the occasion, NEPRA Member Rafique Shaikh pointed out that Section 31 of the NEPRA Act that ensures the uniform tariff across the country was not implemented.
He also sought legal justification of the Rs1.95/unit increase in the electricity rates. Upon which officials of the Power Division said that uniform tariff was in accordance with revenue requirements of power distribution companies (DISCOs) and will not be applicable to KE consumers.
