ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has convened an urgent meeting today (Sunday) regarding electricity bills following recent protests of the people.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, in the meeting, consultations will be held with respect to providing maximum relief to the consumers regarding electricity bills. The caretaker prime minister has directed the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) and the distribution companies to provide a detailed briefing in this regard.

An official told Business Recorder that the prime minister has convened the meeting following recent protests by the people, as well as the business community, against the hike in electricity bills.

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When contacted, the official added that the time and programme would be scheduled after the return of the prime minister from Quetta.

The power sector and circular debt due to inefficiencies and line losses have been a grave concern for all governments without any improvement.

The distribution companies (Discos) filed an application a few days ago before the authority – National Electric Power Regulatory Authority – to allow them recovery of Rs146 billion from the consumers by increasing tariff on account of quarterly adjustment for the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year. This quarterly adjustment included Rs124 billion on account of the capacity payments for unutilised electricity.

Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, after taking charge of the Finance Ministry, was said to have also held her first meeting on the power sector, considering it a major challenge for the caretaker government, as for all previous governments, due to power theft and non-recovery of the billed amount.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023