Ijaz Kakakhel
Taking strong notice of inflated power bills and public protest across the country, a legislative body of upper house of parliament on Monday lamented that the government is paying Rs1.3 trillion to IPPs under Capacity Payment and which is mainly responsible for higher bills.
Mis-management, inefficiency and corruption were mainly other reasons for inflated power bills, claimed Senators in the meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Power, which was held today at Parliament House while Senator SaifullahAbro was on Chair.
The Senate Committee discussed the unprecedented electric bills that have led to nationwide protests. The Chairman Committee inquiries about the ‘Capacity Charges’ which are being paid to IPPs. Officials apprised that the Capacity Payment in the current Financial Year stands at Rs 1.3 Trillion and Dollar to Pkr conversion rate, Imported Coal Price, RLNG and KIBOR are the major factors which determines the Capacity Payments. Senator SaifullahSarwar Khan Nyazee questioned about the electricity theft and electricity subsidy for the current Financial Year. Officials stated that approximately Rs.467 Billion worth electricity theft and around Rs. 976 Billion electric subsidy has been provided in the Financial Year 2023. The Committee directed the Power Division to provide list of defaulters and outstanding dues in each DISCO in the next meeting.
Senator SaifullahAbro lamented the IPP’s and attributing them as the primary reason behind the unjustified electricity costs. He pointed out that IPP’s have inflated the invoices of three significant power plants, a fact acknowledged by the Secretary of the Power Division. He maintained that unless the IPP issue is resolved, the electricity crisis cannot be effectively tackled.
The Senate body also discussed the Public Petition of Mr. Ashraf Ansari regarding non-payment of group life insurance to retired employees of WAPDA. Officials informed that Group Life Insurance has been provided in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Servant Retirement Benefit and Death Compensation Act, 2014”, however, there is currently no existing Act that serves as a basis for providing Group Life Insurance to the WAPDA employees. After the detailed deliberations, the Committee decided to amend the Act to resolve the issue of WAPDA employees.
