Cabinet approves Rs7.91 per unit increase in power tariff

After several postponements, the Federal Cabinet finally decided to approve the Rs7.91 per unit increase in the power tariff.

The Federal Minister of Power, Khuram Dastgir, and Minister of Petroleum, Musadik Malik, made the announcement during a press conference.

Dastgir claimed that because Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif wanted to provide relief to the masses. The consent was not given until 45 per cent of the population had been exempted from the tariff increase.

Musadik Malik, the minister of petroleum, disclosed that by leaving out the protected sector, the homes with consumption of less than 200 units per month, or up to 90 million people, had been left out of the price increase.

Previously, the government’s proposal for the tariff increase was subject to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (NEPRA) reserve decision, according to Dawn.

In accordance with the approval, the government will raise the rate by Rs3.5 per unit starting on July 26. A similar price rise will be implemented in August. The cost would then be raised by Rs0.91 per unit in October by the government, bringing the total rise to Rs7.91.

Malik blamed the previous administration’s lack of frequent fuel adjustments and transmission losses rebasing for the sharp increase in tariffs. Fuel surcharges were raised without notifying the public at the final rebasing, which took place in February 2021.

The power minister informed the media that the present administration had paid Rs214 billion toward circular debt, bringing the total down from Rs2,476 billion on March 31, 2022, to Rs2,253 billion on June 30, 2022.