Govt Wants to Increase Electricity Prices Once Again

The Senate Standing Committee on Power deliberated imposing a projected Fuel Price Adjustment (FPA) of Rs 2.71 per KWh on electricity consumers permanently. The Ministry of Energy proposed the increase to be adjusted at the end of each fiscal year after the calculations of the actual impact of FPA. The meeting, chaired by Senator Saifullah Abro, was informed by Secretary Power Syed Asif Hyder Shah that the proposal has been shared with Prime Minister for consideration. He confirmed that the decision is the sole discretion of the government. He said, if the government approves the decision, a mechanism has to be devised to see if the actual FPA is lower than the projected. In such a case, the exceeding amount charged to consumers would be adjusted in future bills. He said that currently, the government has earmarked Rs. 334 billion for subsidy in tariff differential in the current budget. The Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment Bill, 2021) was introduced by Senator Bahramand Tangi. The officials informed the committee that the amendment is related to operational aspects of the utility business. Senator Tangi said that instead of cutting the power supply of those consumers who are paying their power bills, the electricity of power thieves and non-payers of bills should be disconnected. “You cannot treat both (the payers and non-payers) alike,” he argued. The panel stood firmly against the penalization of consumers who have been paying their dues regularly and said that the strictest measures must be taken against those who do not pay the bills. The representative of the Law Division explained that according to law, bill payers could not be treated on the same grounds as non-payers and supported the bill. The committee decided to further discuss the matter in the next meeting.