ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat recommended enhancing powers of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) in order to capacitate the regulator to more effectively regulate the electric power sector.
The committee also asked the NEPRA to take action against DISCOs for not complying with the directions and schedule of load shedding.
The committee met with Kishwer Zehra, MNA in the chair at Parliament House on Wednesday. The committee discussed the performance and regulatory functions of the NEPRA, DISCOs and question moved by Ghous Bukhsh Khan Mahar.
The committee while discussing issues related to performance and regulatory functions of the NEPRA, recommended enhancing the powers of the authority in order to capacitate the regulator to more effectively regulate the electric power sector.
The committee was apprised that the NEPRA had no role in the appointment of management of the electric power generation and distribution entities, thus, its scope was limited.
The NEPRA chairman said that stringent checks on power pilferage, reduction of line losses by distribution companies and political will for the implementation of the rule of law were the only solution to reduce circular debt and provision of affordable electricity.
The NEPRA chairman further apprised that electricity generated by Thar coal and hydroelectric power generation apart from generation through renewable energy would substantially help save foreign exchange.
The committee also recommended that similar tariff on three-phase meters be charged as admissible to lifeline customers who consume units within that range. The committee was of the view that irrespective of consumption, the tariff charged on three-phase meters was high.
The committee while taking up delay in the establishment of Telecommunication Tribunals, directed the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications to expedite the process and report back the outcome to the committee within 30 days.
The committee was apprised that the establishment of the said Tribunals had principally been approved by the Federal Cabinet, however, the Ministry of Law advised for an amendment was required in Telecommunications Reorganization Act 1996 to give effect to the decision of the Cabinet.
The representative of the IT Ministry informed that the draft of the amendment bill had been prepared and would be forwarded to the Law Ministry for vetting and further presented to the CCLC and the Federal Cabinet for final approval before sending it to the Parliament for approval.
The committee expressed its displeasure at the absence of the representative of the Ministry of Law from the meeting. The committee viewed that the function of the Ministry of Law was to provide services to the government on legal and constitutional matters and the administration of several laws also fell within the purview of the ministry; therefore, it was invited in the meeting of the committee for advice on Telecommunications Tribunals and Closure of Abandoned Property Organisation.
However, the ministry does not bother to take the parliamentary business seriously and no one turned up. The committee directed to send a letter to convey disapproval to the secretary law on that account.
The committee later reiterating its decision taken in its previous meeting, disposed of starred question moved by Ghous Bukhsh Khan Mahar, MNA regarding visits of ministers abroad on public expenses.
The committee had recommended that all the ministries/divisions should keep the Cabinet Division in the loop while moving summaries for visits taken up by the ministers either funded by Finance, Foreign Affairs or any other donor agencies.
The Cabinet Division had apprised that the ministries/divisions directly submit summaries to the OFFICE of the Prime Minister for approval and it was only in the knowledge of the visits which were approved through the Cabinet Division.
The meeting of the committee was attended by MNAs Musarrat Rafiq Mehasar, Seema Mohiuddin Jameeli, Syed Mehmood Ahmad Shah, and Mohsin Dawar, special secretaries of Establishment and Cabinet Divisions, the NEPRA chairman, and other senior officers of the concerned departments.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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