Nepra officers approve large pay raises for themselves

Senior officers of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) have approved large increments in their own salaries and non-income perks. According to reports, this move was in clear violation of the law as they did not get approval from the federal cabinet.

The timing of the unapproved salary hike is peculiar as the power sector is facing staggering losses because of issues in power distribution and overall management. However, reports have outlined how aside from the timing of the hike, the magnitude of the hike is even more peculiar.

This is because the latest salary revisions authorized 200 percent raises for certain employees. Reports reveal that the chairperson’s salary ballooned to a whopping 3.25 million rupees while members witness their salary packages grow up to 2.95 million rupees.

As per standard guidelines, Nepra’s chairman and members are allowed to receive a basic monthly salary between 629000 rupees to 772780 rupees. However, this excludes non-income perks such as utility and accommodation rent allowances which brings up their gross salaries up to a respectable 800,000 rupees to one million rupees.

Under the revised salary package, the base pay does not vary significantly with only the lower salary bound noticing a slight improvement up to 700,000 rupees from the previous salary of 629000 rupees. However, a ‘regulatory allowance’ has been adjusted into the salary package which raises the gross salary amount by up to 700,000 rupees. As per reports, this colossal regulatory allowance has been modeled after judicial benefits.

Aside from the allowance increase, Nepra officers were also able to snag provisional reliefs with an associated monetary value of up to 650,000 rupees for 2024, 600,000 rupees for 2023, 116,000 rupees for 2022 and 77,300 rupees for 2021. If these payments have not been made in previous years, it is likely that the officials will receive backdated payments for the aforementioned time period.

If backdated payments are made, the disbursements of funds to the officials might hurt the national exchequer. The federal budget might witness an imbalance because of the unexpected outflow - as this salary revision was never approved by the federal cabinet.

This move could potentially worsen the balance of the federal budget which lawmakers in Islamabad might not be particularly thrilled about. Moreover, reports claim that Nepra officials will still continue to collect house rent allowances ranging from 176,000 rupees to 206,000 rupees along with other benefits totaling over 100,000 rupees.

After the colossal pay hike, analysts are raising concerns regarding the level of financial accountability and transparency surrounding such institutions. As of now, it is not known whether this pay raise will stand or be reversed by federal authorities since Nepra has reportedly not provided any clarifications on the matter.