ISLAMABAD: The National Electricity Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) said on Monday that the main reasons for the increase in electricity tariffs are dollar indexation and capacity payments to power plants.

Informing the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Electricity, Vice-President of NEPRA, Rafique Ahmad Shaikh criticized the electricity distribution companies (Discos) for their dismal performance despite the regulator’s approval for massive investments .

“The burden of electricity thieves is passed on to consumers who pay their bills, honestly. NEPRA had authorized an investment of Rs365 billion in nine nightclubs but they reduced their losses by less than half a percent,” he said. he adds.

The Committee deferred most of the agenda items, including two government bills, due to the absence of some members and the Chairman of the Committee.

The committee elected Engineer Sabir Hussain Kaimkhani as provisional committee chairman for the meeting, as ordinary chairman Chaudhry Salik Hussain did not attend the meeting for personal reasons.

“The government has increased the average electricity tariff by more than 40% in 3 years”

The Committee did not deliberate on the “Pakistan Penal Code Amendment Bill, 2019 (Ordinance No. XXV of 2019)” due to the absence of some members of the Committee, who opposed it in its form. current.

The secretary, Ali Raza Bhutta, wanted the bill to be authorized because it has been pending before the committee for two years. However, the acting president argued that since some members are not present at the meeting, the deliberation should be postponed until the next meeting so that they can share their views to further improve the bill.

The committee discussed the “Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Ordinance No. XVII of 2021 (Bill)” after some sour comments. sweet from the Secretary, Power and some committee members including Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah.

The amendment seeks to modify the ordinance adopted in 2018, authorizing the federal government to appoint the Electricity and Finance members of the Appeals Tribunal for a period of three years.

According to the Electricity Division, the federal and provincial governments have experienced difficulty in finding suitable candidates for the Tribunal’s Electricity and Finance member positions.

The Electricity Division argued that the changes will add value to the process by improving the experience requirement and the appointment of Finance and Electricity and Appeal Tribunal members can be done quickly to make the functional tribunal.

Commenting on the proposed amendments, Nepra Vice President Rafique Ahmad Shaikh said Nepra, in his comments, opposed the amendments on the grounds that they would deprive the provinces of their fair representation.

The government agrees to pass on the increase in the electricity tariffs withheld to consumers

During the deliberations on the proposed amendments, an unpleasant situation arose between MK Ghulam Mustafa Shah and Power Secretary Ali Raza Bhutta, after the latter presented detailed arguments in support of the proposed amendments.

“The secretary is giving a Friday sermon. I don’t agree with his arguments. There is no shortage of experienced people in the provinces,” Shah said. The visibly offended secretary said he would not say anything more without the president’s permission.

Sensing that the situation was becoming antagonistic, Mehar Ghulam Muhammad Lali proposed that the agenda be postponed and that the members concerned be allowed to submit any amendment to make the bill acceptable to the entire Committee. After extensive discussion, the Committee unanimously decided to postpone the proposed amendments to the bill.

Karachi MP Saifur Rehman complained about the performance of Karachi Electric, the collusion of staff with those who obtain electricity through illegal hooks (Kunda) and middlemen who make such things possible. He said, CEO KE must be present at every committee meeting.

He also questioned the appointment of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Lesco) CEO Dr Amjad Hussain and asked the Power division to share the documents of his selection as CEO.

The Committee ordered Power Division to pay the remainder of the amount to those affected by the transmission lines before the next Committee meeting. The issues of counting and brackets in KP were also discussed extensively. The committee asked the electricity division to devise a strategy so that those who haven’t paid bills in the past 20 years show a willingness to get meters and pay their bills. Corruption in the installation of meters, transformers and bribes in new hires was also highlighted during the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021