The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority chairman has said that the production cost of electricity has been hiked many times, adding that the consumers should have to pay for the increased rates. A Nepra bench headed by its Chairman, Tauseef H Farooqi, on Wednesday completed the public hearing of a petition filed by the government seeking an increase in phases in the basic tariff to make it uniform. The bench, however, reserved its judgement.In its petition, the government told the regulator that it wanted to increase power rates for consumers in the "unprotected category" using up to 100 units per month by about Rs 4.06 per unit instead of the Rs 7.91 worked out by Nepra, and hence this burden had to be passed on to the higher consumption categories.

During the hearing, the power division additional secretary, while giving a briefing to the bench, said that the Nepra had approved a Rs7.91/unit hike in the basic tariff of electricity on June 4. But the government does not want to put all the burden on consumers in one go, he said, adding that despite an increase in the basic tariff rate in phases, the government was still giving Rs220 billion in subsidies on it. Under the government directive, the base tariff for those consuming 101–200 would be increased by Rs7.21 per unit in phases to Rs18.95, while the rate for those consuming 201-300 per month would go up by Rs8.31 to Rs22.14 per unit.

The rate for 301–400 units would increase by Rs4.30 per unit to Rs25.53, while the rate for 401–500 units would increase by Rs6.51 per unit to Rs27.74. Likewise, the base rate for 501–600 units will increase to Rs29.16 per unit, up by Rs7.93, and that of 601–700 units will go up to Rs30.30 per unit, showing an increase of Rs8.97 per unit. The base tariff for consumption above 700 units per month would go up to Rs 35.22 per unit, with an increase of Rs 11. The base rate for time of use (TOU) metres would go up by Rs10.06 to Rs34.39 for peak consumption hours and to Rs28.07 per unit for off-peak hours.

The power division authorities told Nepra during the hearing that after the rebasing, the protected consumers would get a lower tariff. They said that the irrigation sector was being given a Rs.93 billion subsidy. On this, the Nepra asked the government to provide it with statistics regrading subsidies being provided to every category. The Nepra chairman said that fuel prices were rising in the international market. He said in the past, the coal rate was $50/ton and now it had gone up to $400/ton. He said fuel had become eight times costlier and the rate of the US dollar had also become almost double.

The electricity production costs have soared by 16 times, the chairman said, adding that if the consumer does not pay for the increased rates, who else would pay? He declared that besides the tariff hike, the fuel price and tri-monthly adjustment would continue to add to the electricity bills. After completing the public hearing of the government's plea, Nepra reserved its judgement, which will be released after a thorough analysis of the data. Nepra said that it would soon complete its work and send it to the federal government, which afterwards would issue notification of the final electricity tariff rate.

Credit:
Independent News Pakistan-INP