ISLAMABAD – The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Monday deferred the hearing on K-Electric’s request for relief under the Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) mechanism for one week.
K-Electric had requested a reduction of Rs 4.69 per unit for the month of April.
However, the Power Division immediately requested a postponement as the hearing began. The officials from the division cited a pending review petition related to K-Electric and argued that granting FCA relief would disrupt the uniform tariff structure. They also noted that the federal government has already provided Rs 21 billion in subsidies under FCA.
The officials further explained that Pakistan’s commitments under the IMF program required fiscal discipline, and such decisions could complicate matters. The federal government has now decided to publish its letter on NEPRA’s website for public consultation, and NEPRA will reissue a public notice accordingly.
The NEPRA officials stated that the next hearing would be held next week and invited all stakeholders to submit their comments, emphasizing that the FCA hearings are public and that the timing of the postponement request was highly inappropriate.
During the hearing, the NEPRA chairman questioned the link between subsidies and FCA, asking, “What does subsidy have to do with FCA?” Power Division officials apologized, citing delays in analysis. The Chairman criticized the process, stating, “What kind of system is this where requests are made during hearings?”
The Power Division mentioned that a summary has been prepared to include FCA in the uniform tariff and that the summary would go to the Cabinet. If approved, today’s hearing could become irrelevant.
In response, K-Electric CEO said the utility would comply with whatever NEPRA decides, adding that FCA had been positive for KE in past years while negative for other DISCOs. He questioned why uniform tariffs weren’t an issue when consumers were paying higher prices.
NEPRA stressed the importance of transparency and due procedure in public hearings.
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