Rs3.8 surcharge imposed on power users

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Monday rubber-stamped the government decision of imposing Rs3.82 per unit surcharge on electricity consumers across the country for four months with retrospective effect from March 1 and then continue it at a reduced rate of Rs1.43 per unit throughout the next fiscal year. The additional surcharges have been imposed on the demand of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to finance the debt servicing cost of the power sector and gradually reduce circular debt that stood at Rs2.6 trillion by end-December 2022. During a public hearing last week, all four members and chairman of the Nepra, one after the other, had repeatedly questioned why should the regulator “rubber stamp” surcharges on consumers to finance power sector debt that emerged due to inefficiencies, bad governance and mismanagement of power companies and was not cleared by the regulator as “prudent cost” of electricity supply. However, the regulator changed its stance based on the ‘legal opinion’ given by the Ministry of Law and Justice. The regulator said the law ministry had opined that “any surcharge will be charged and notified by the federal government in the official gazette.