NEPRA approves Rs1.75 per unit tariff hike to recover Rs40 billion

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has approved an increase of Rs1.75 per unit in the electricity tariffs for distribution companies (Discos) and K-Electric (KE).

This increase, aimed at recovering an additional Rs40 billion, will apply to the fourth quarter of FY2023-24 (April-June) under the Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA) mechanism.

The additional charges will be reflected in consumers’ electricity bills for September, October, and November 2024.

However, due to the termination of a previous Rs0.93 per unit adjustment for the third quarter (January-March 2023-24), the net increase in bills during this period will effectively be Rs0.82 per unit.

For KE customers, the federal government will cover the QTA increase through subsidies allocated for FY2024-25, meaning KE consumers will not directly bear this cost.

In addition, NEPRA has approved a negative adjustment of Rs0.37 per unit under the Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) for Discos for the month of July 2024. This reduction will appear in September 2024 bills, except for domestic consumers using up to 300 units per month.

According to Business Recorder, since an existing FCA charge of Rs2.56 per unit, applied in August 2024 bills, is set to expire, a combined relief of Rs2.93 per unit will be passed on to consumers in their September 2024 bills.

According to NEPRA, when both adjustments are taken into account, consumers will experience a total relief of Rs2.11 per unit in their September bills.