AFTER reducing prices of petrol and high speed diesel as a gift for inflation-ridden people on the occasion of the country’s Independence Day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has held out an assurance to announce a ‘significant cut’ in electricity tariffs during the next few days. During a speech at an Independence Day ceremony, the PM also announced that he will present a five-year economic plan soon. In an encouraging development, the Prime Minister tried to address concerns about inflation, unemployment and high electricity bills affecting the general public and emphasized the need to address them and learn from the past experience to plan for the future.
In the absence of further clarification, no one can say with certainty about the nature of the ‘good news’ that the PM has pledged to share with the nation during the next few days but prudence demands there should be an across-the-board relief for all categories of consumers. The resentment over heavy-handed billing has reached boiling point and window dressing would not satisfy consumers, whose bread and butter has been taken away in the name of electricity bills. The PM did not explain but in case he was duly careful in the choice of words then he conspicuously missed any reference to the domestic consumers, which means they are unlikely to get a relief despite nation-wide protests and the firm threat of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) to resume its protest if no substantial relief was offered to the general public. While acknowledging that the electricity bills were the biggest concern of everybody, the Prime Minister selectively referred to the industry, agriculture and exports, which, he said, cannot grow without a reduction in the tariff. No one would oppose lowering electricity rates for the industry, businesses and agriculture as activities in all the three sectors are badly affected by mindless policies of hiking electricity tariffs every now and then without addressing the real issues of the power sector. Factories and businesses are closing down due to high cost of doing business and the Government is unlikely to achieve its own targets for exports when our goods have been rendered uncompetitive in the global market. There is, therefore, genuine justification for bringing down the electricity tariff for them but the authorities concerned must not lose sight of the fact that millions of families have been pushed below the so-called poverty line and many more forced to compromise their life-style due to excessive power billing and they too are desperately waiting for relief. It is also not clear as to how and to what extent the Government intends to benefit consumers but a substantial relief is possible if the Government reviews the prevailing exploitative formula for fixation of electricity rates.
The provision under which a consumer is charged rates of the highest slab for consecutive six months if he crosses the threshold of the previous slob even by one unit is the striking example of squeezing undue benefit and exploitation of the masses no other than the Government itself. Therefore, this clause needs to be withdrawn without much consideration and delay. Similarly, if the claims of the Government about excessive generation capacity are true then what is justification for continuation of a slab system that discourages more consumption by way of charging much higher charges for consumption beyond certain limits? Ideally, there should be absolutely no slab and a single tariff should be applicable to all consumers but in case disadvantaged segments of the society are to be protected then there should be only two slobs and no more. The proposal being considered by the Government to hike gas prices to force consumers to shift heating systems to electricity is fundamentally flawed as not to speak of space heating; people are shy of operating fans in simmering heat for fear of getting inflated bills. The idea smacks of lack of vision on the part of policy planners and could deliver no benefit except making gas bills unaffordable and putting additional burden on people during winter as well.
