MEDIA reports suggest that after approval of a summary from the cabinet for a substantial increase in the base tariff of electricity for all categories of consumers, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has given instructions to provide relief to the protected consumers using up to 200 units per month. The proposed relief is expected to benefit about fifty percent of domestic consumers falling in the protected category.
It is good of the Prime Minister to have responded positively to the concerns of the consumers about the additional burden they will bear due to the latest increase that became effective from July 1, 2024. There was already great resentment among all consumers as they received back-breaking power bills for June, 2024 and the fear of more burden due to revision in base tariff, the accompanying increase in taxes and duties levied on percentage basis and uncalled for fixed charges from next month. An elected government cannot remain elusive to the woes of the people and is required to come out with measures to address them satisfactorily. The proposed relief for protected consumers is modelled on a similar initiative that the Prime Minister launched during his tenure as head of the coalition government but the original plan was diluted in the face of opposition from the IMF. According to reports, the latest relief envisages exemption of the protected category for three months of summer for which the government would allocate a subsidy of Rs. 50 billion. Temporary relief and that too for a specific category is no satisfactory solution to the ills of the energy sector and their negative impact on honest consumers. The entire formula for tariff determination is anti-consumers and benefits vested interests including IPPs and inefficient distribution companies. It is regrettable that there is no one to safeguard interests of the people of Pakistan who are openly being fleeced due to formulae like exclusion from the protected category even if a consumer crosses the threshold just for one unit for one month in six months. All people are charged base tariff, monthly fuel adjustment, quarterly fuel adjustment, fixed charges, sales tax and income tax but the circular debt keeps on mounting providing justification to planners and decision-makers to shift more burden on consumers. This exploitative system needs to be changed besides a decisive campaign against electricity theft and revision of agreements with IPPs, which mint money in the name of capacity charges.
