ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance has sought the list of electricity defaulters and outstanding dues in each DISCO from the Power Division in the next meeting.
The meeting of the power committee presided over by Senator Saifullah Abro was held on Monday to discuss the hike in electricity bills that have led to nationwide protests. The chairman of the committee inquired about the “capacity charges” which are being paid to the IPPs.
The meeting was informed by the official of the power sector that the capacity payment in the current financial year stands at Rs1.3 trillion, and the dollar to rupee conversion rate, imported coal price, RLNG, and KIBOR are the major factors which determine the capacity payments.
15 months: financial impact of power theft estimated at Rs500bn
In response to a question about the electricity theft and electricity subsidy for the current financial year, the committee was informed that approximately there was electricity theft of Rs467 billion and a subsidy of around Rs976billion was provided in the financial year 2023.
Senator Abro lamented the IPPs and attributed them as the primary reason behind the unjustified electricity costs. He pointed out that the IPPs 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.
While discussing a public petition about group life insurance to retired employees of WAPDA, the committee was informed that Group Life Insurance has been provided in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa under the “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 detailed deliberations, the committee decided to amend the Act to resolve the issue of WAPDA employees.
Moreover, as to the current status of implementations of recommendations relating to 765kV Dasu-Mansehra-Islamabad T/L (Lot-I) and consultant M/s GOPA Intec, the officials of the Power Division apprised that a committee to analyse the bidding process of LoT-I and investigate the alleged irregularities of M/s GOPA Intec has been formed and a comprehensive report will be submitted before the committee within a month period time.
The committee also discussed 765kV Dasu-Mansehra-Islamabad T/L (Lot-II) in which after detailed deliberations, the committee, unanimously, decided that M/s Harbin Electric International is disqualified firm for LoT-II and huge irregularities have been found by the committee. The Power Division may take action against the company and M/s GOPA Intec as per discussion in the previous committee meeting related to LoT-I.
The meeting was attended by senators, Fida Muhammad, Bahramand Khan Tangi, Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai, Sana Jamali, Haji Hidayatullah Khan, and Asad Ali Khan Junejo. Additional Secretary Power Division Arshad Majeed and other senior officers of relevant departments were also in attendance.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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