Pakistan's power authority NEPRA approves price hike of Rs 3.99 per unit

While the Pakistani citizens were distressed by the hike in oil prices, in yet another shock, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Tuesday approved a hike in power tariff by Rs 3.99 per unit.

The move came despite hours-long load shedding, while, electricity shortfall widens to over 7,000 megawatts, reported Geo News.

The increase in power tariffs will be charged with the bill of June 2022 on account of fuel cost adjustment (FCA). NEPRA said that the FCA would remain applicable for only a month.

According to a notification issued in this regard, the FCA for April 2022 will be charged with the bill of June 2022, which will be paid by all consumer categories of distribution companies, except for lifeline and K-Electric consumers, reported Geo News.

The Rs 3.99 increase will put a burden of around Rs 58.5 billion on consumers, including 17 per cent GST.

It is worth mentioning that the Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guarantee Limited (CPPA-G) requested an FCA of Rs 4.5 per unit for the month of April 2022.

The regulator had held a hearing on May 31, after which the authority approved Rs 3.99 per unit power tariff hike, which is Rs 1.13 higher than the FCA of March.

Meanwhile, the demand in the country for electricity has surged to 28,200 megawatts amid the sweltering weather conditions while the power supply is 21,200 megawatts, with power shortfall surging to over 7,000 megawatts, reported Geo News.

Further, several plants have been shut due to the shortage of oil, gas and coal, the sources added.

Due to the widening shortfall, several parts of the country are suffering 10-12 hours of load shedding daily amid hot weather.

( With inputs from ANI )