PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the latest hike in power tariff was done at the instance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but it has been carved out in a way not to burden the majority of power consumers. Speaking at a ceremony of signing an agreement between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) Trading and the Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) in Lahore on Monday, he said that 63% of the domestic consumers using up to 200 units per month would be exempted from the power tariff increase. Besides, he said, a partial subsidy was also being given to the consumers of up to 300 units per month which comprise around 31 per cent of the total domestic consumers.
There is no denying the fact that the Government was forced to increase the base electricity tariff as it was one of the conditions imposed by the IMF. However, people are protesting against the increase as it would add to their misery because of the inflationary impact. True that those using 200 units of electricity would not be affected but this is a simplistic explanation of the move as these families too would be badly affected by the fresh wave of price-hike to be triggered by one of the highest increases in power tariff for other categories of consumers. It is not merely a question of consuming electricity as price increases by manufacturers and service providers would inevitably affect each and every citizen. It is also unfortunate that the tariff has been revised upward at a time when people were expecting the Government to fulfill its oft-repeated commitment to lower the prices of electricity due to increased share of solar, wind, hydel and nuclear power in the national energy mix. It is also a cause of heart burning that while the general public would be forced to pay exorbitant rates of power, there are still some privileged classes that receive free of cost electricity, gas and telephone. Pakistan cannot afford this luxury which must come to an end without loss of further time.
