Armed forces’ officers not getting 50pc rebate on power tariffs despite entitlement

ISLAMABAD: The electricity regulator, National Electricity Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), is yet to clarify why the armed forces’ officers are still being provided only a 3.5 percent rebate on power tariffs against a 50 percent rebate that had been promised to them by the federal government in the 1990s through a regulation, according to sources in the power sector.

Sources said that since the 2000s, Army Officers have been getting only a 3.5 % rebate on electricity tariffs, adding that a recent news item carried by a section of press has created an erroneous impression that the summary through which the Defence Ministry has sought a 50 percent rebate for army officers is a “new summary,” which is not correct.

Explaining what actually constitutes “the factual position,” the sources said that as per a government regulation of the 1990s, armed forces’ officers are entitled to a 50% rebate.

However, due to calculation mechanism of Distribution Companies (Discos) only a net rebate of 3.5 % has been given to them.

In 2018, the sources added, a formal request was made to Ministry of Defence for framing a policy in accordance with the 1990s regulation. It was only recently that the Ministry of Defence sought comments from the power regulator in this regard, urging it to remove the anomaly by allowing the army officers a 50 percent rebate on power tariffs as per government’s pledge, the sources concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022