The government will collect an additional revenue of Rs 15 billion from consumers across the board under the guise of fuel price adjustment (PFA), according to official documents.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had allowed the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) to increase power tariff by Rs 1.07 per unit in June, Rs 2.04 per unit in July, Rs 3.05 per unit in August, Rs 1.77 per unit in September, Rs 1.61 in October, and Rs 2 per unit in November 2011, owing to massive increase in furnace oil prices.
Consumers are bearing the brunt of electricity consumed in previous months without being able to challenge the calculations based on dates and times (determining peak hour rates) of electricity consumed. "No consumer knows what he or she is paying for using electricity during the peak hours as there is no such box in the bills," complained a consumer, Abdul Razak Bhatti.
For instance, one consumer, Ghazala Siraj-ul-Mulk, consumed only 184 units in July 2011 whose total bill had been calculated at Rs 1493, but she received a bill of Rs 5858, of which Rs 4001 was charged as FPA for July. Official documents further suggest that the domestic consumers, who use up to 100 units in one month, pay Rs 4.54 per unit, besides taxes including general sales tax.
Normal tariff for consumers who consume 101-300 units per month is Rs 6.86 per unit. And, this category of consumers is compelled to pay Rs 12.25 per unit during peak hours, whereas during off-peak hours they pay Rs 6.70 per unit. Consumers who utilise 301-700 units monthly pay Rs 10.65 per unit whereas the normal tariff for the consumers who consume 701 and above is Rs 13.29 per unit.
Classification of timing of peak hours is as follows: December to February - 5 pm to 9 pm; March to May - 6 pm to 10 pm; June to August - 7pm to 11pm and; September-November 6pm to 10pm. Normal tariff of domestic consumers who consume 500 units a month is Rs 3956 but their ToU tariff has been calculated at Rs 3905, whereas consumers who use 1000 units pay Rs 10073 in peak hours but in off-peak hours their total bill is Rs 7810. Peak hours'' tariff for commercial consumers is the reverse of domestic consumers.
For instance, commercial consumers'' normal tariff is Rs 13 per unit but during peak hours it is Rs 11.49 per unit, less by 74 paisa as compared to domestic consumers. During off peak hours commercial consumers'' tariff is Rs 6.50 per unit. Normal bill for commercial consumers who use 500 units monthly is Rs 6500 but their ToU tariff is Rs 5217. Likewise, the bill of those consumers who consume 1000 units is Rs 13000 in normal times whereas their ToU tariff is Rs 9700. The federal Cabinet has recently approved additional funding of Rs 25 billion for NTDC to keep the load shedding at minimum level, which is 18 hours for rural areas and up to 8 hours for urban areas.
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