Rs1.52 per unit surcharge imposed on KE consumers for 12 months

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday gave in to a demand of the Power Division to impose for 12 months an additional special surcharge at a flat rate of Rs1.52 per unit on all K-Electric consumers, except lifeline category with less than 100 units per month on a permanent basis. The additional surcharge will come into force from Dec 1 for up to November 2024 and provide a Rs24.5 billion financial cushion to the federal government which claimed to have extended Rs416bn subsidy to KE during the past five years and had budgeted another Rs298bn for 2023-24, taking the total toll to Rs714bn in six years. Power Division said the government had also allocated Rs678bn subsidy for other distribution companies (Discos) for the current year. This additional surcharge is on top of an average Rs32 per unit uniform national base tariff, Rs3.23 per unit financing cost surcharge and various taxes and duties besides the quarterly tariff adjustments and fuel cost adjustments that keep on changing on a quarterly and monthly basis. Nepra “has decided to allow the subject motion i.e. recovery of Rs1.52/kWh from the consumers of K-Electric, except lifeline, for 12 months from December to November 2024”, said an order issued by the regulator while conceding some flaws in the Power Division’s tariff petition that had been approved by the Shehbaz Sharif cabinet but certain changes made unilaterally by the Power Division. While the regulator highlighted such legal questions but did not give a ruling.