TO rub salt to the injuries of the consumers, the Government has approved up to 51% or Rs7.12 increase in the per-unit price of electricity from July, the highest raise in terms of percentage for the lower income groups. The applicable end-power tariff of protected consumers would go up by up to 51% and unprotected consumers by up to 43%. For the commercial users, the new rate is in the range of Rs38.59 to Rs45 per unit, showing an increase of up to Rs5.84 per unit or 15%. Also, the government has now revised the fixed charges for the industrial consumers.
The unjustified increase in the power tariff is now becoming one of the main factors for growing social unrest as is highlighted by spontaneous protests and agitation by all categories of consumers. It is an open secret that this latest increase has been approved as part of the understanding with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure a fresh bailout package but the Federal Cabinet, which cleared the summary for the purpose through circulation, demonstrated lack of sensitivity to the plight of the people for whom payment of power bills has become a matter of their economic survival. Electricity is a necessity but unfortunately it is being treated as a luxury by our planners and decision-makers as is evident from an unending surge in the base tariff as well as frequent hikes in other charges plus imposition of several taxes on the bill. There is no doubt that the power sector is bleeding but not because of low tariff but due to rampant corruption, theft and line losses caused by the poor transmission and distribution networks. Federal Minister for Energy Sardar Awais Leghari has also conceded that the electricity prices are high in the country but at the same he failed to offer any satisfactory explanation for the phenomenon and apparently indulged in rhetoric by giving a vague assurance that the Government will be able to provide cheap electricity to people in the next 18 months. This claim is not corroborated by ground realities as there is hardly any move to tackle corruption and theft decisively, recover dues from individual and institutional defaulters or a clear shift towards alternative energy resources. Instead, theft is officially being patronized by a provincial government and consumers opting for solar solutions are being discouraged, rather punished, through unjust strategies and policies aimed at protecting inefficiency and corruption. There are also legitimate demands for review of lopsided and anti-consumer agreements concluded with IPPs and the Government should do it without further loss of time.
