Govt requests Nepra to reduce power tariffs by Rs1.71/unit

The federal government has requested the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to reduce electricity prices by Rs1.71 per unit for all consumers of XWDISCOS and K-Electric.

“The federal government has filed a motion regarding the recommendation of consumer end tariff for XWDISCOS and K-Electric, under section 7 and 31 of NEPRA Act read with rule 17 of the NEPRA Tariff (Standards and Procedures) rules, 1998 (the Rules),” read the notice issued on Friday.

As per the motion, the federal government has decided to increase the tariff differential subsidy for electricity for all consumers of XWDISCOS and K-Electric (except lifeline domestic) by Rs1.71/kWh for April to June FY2025.

The regulator will hold a hearing on the matter on April 4, 2025.

A day earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) allowed the government to reduce electricity tariff by Re1 per kilowatt-hour for all consumers in Pakistan.

This relief will be financed through revenue collected from levies imposed on captive power plants (CPPs), said Mahir Binici, IMF Resident Representative in Pakistan, following the staff-level agreement (SLA) on the first review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, and on a new arrangement of $1.3 billion under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

Binici said that the EFF programme already allows some explicit subsidies in the form of Tariff Differential Subsidy (TDS) and revenue from levies on CPPs firms. This should directly add to the existing subsidy and then could reduce power tariffs in the near term by around one rupee per kilowatt-hour. This relief would apply to all consumers across the country, he added.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that the government plans to lower electricity costs as part of a broader plan to bring relief to manufacturers and increase exports.

“We are working under the prime minister’s leadership to bring the tariffs down and the prime minister is going to announce that in the coming days,” Aurangzeb said, in an interview on the sidelines of the Boao Forum in China on Thursday.