ISLAMABAD: The government has started preparations to impose a further burden of over Rs 1000 billion on consumers through increase in tariffs of Distribution Companies (Discos) in the name of annual adjustment/indexation of distribution margin for FY 2020-21 along with prior year adjustments.
For this purpose, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday conducted a public hearing of three Discos, i.e., Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco), Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco).
During the public hearing, Nepra's team noted that the three Discos have sought adjustments of Rs 676.9 billion on different counts: Fesco sought adjustments of over Rs 269 billion, Lesco Rs 365.667 billion and Iesco Rs 42.188 billion.
The representative of Fesco informed the Authority that the amount of capacity payment is higher than the energy charges, seeking reasonable adjustments to cover the company's financial gap.
The representatives of the other two Discos also gave arguments in favour of their applications, saying that the proposed adjustments are in accordance with the financial requirements and as per the determined policy benchmarks.
The applications of other Discos like, Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco), Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco), Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco), Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco), and Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco) will be considered for hearing in the weeks to come.
According to the plan shared with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and which is also part of the Circular Debt Management Plan(CDMP), an increase of Rs 4-5 per unit will be passed on to consumers till December 2022.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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