Pakistani regulator jacks up power tariff by Rs4.30 per unit

Two boys walk on a wall near high voltage electricity wires in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on July 8, 2020. (AFP/File)

• Adjustments for the month of November 2021 to be shown in consumer bills for the month of January 2022
• Two regulatory body members say burden of government’s incompetence shouldn’t be passed on to consumers

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday announced it was increasing the power tariff by Rs4.30 per unit, as the country’s power regulator allowed distribution companies (DISCOs) to charge consumers an additional fuel cost during the current billing month. 
The hike in power tariff will add to the burden of the masses, who are already reeling from inflationary pressures in Pakistan due to rising food and fuel prices worldwide as well as the government’s prior actions to ensure the revival of the $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan program. 
The fuel adjustment shall be shown separately on the basis of units billed to consumers in the month of November 2021, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) said in a notification. These adjustments will be shown in the bills for the month of January 2022. 
“The above adjustment, an increase of Rs4.3020/kWh shall be applicable to all the consumer categories except lifeline consumers,” the notification read. 
Two NEPRA members wrote dissenting notes, saying the burden of the government’s failure to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) in line with the power companies’ demands should not be passed on to consumers. 
“The under-utilization of the efficient power plants due to the non-availability of RLNG can be avoided if the Ministry of Energy through its Petroleum Division has timely assessed, planned and managed the availability of RLNG,” Maqsood Anwar Khan stated in his dissenting note. 
He urged the Ministry of Energy’s Petroleum Division to “play an active role in ensuring the supply of RLNG being an imported fuel in a timely manner” so that it may not affect the operation of the efficient power plants. 
“Thus, the inefficiencies of the power sector can be mitigated without passing it to the end consumers,” Khan added. 
Reacting to the tariff hike, Sherry Rehman, a senator from the opposition’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), condemned the move and said it was a result of the government’s ineptness, rather than fuel adjustment. 
“The increase [in power tariff] will put an additional collection of Rs35 billion from consumers. Those who used to set electricity bills on fire while standing on containers are now looting the masses of billions of rupees,” she said, taking a dig at Prime Minister Imran Khan. 
Rehman said there were concerns the government was planning to increase the price of petrol too, adding that it was dropping an “inflation bomb” on the masses under the garb of rising oil prices in the world. 
She said the incumbent government did not have any plan in place to provide relief to the masses. “People will only get relief when this incompetent government goes home.”