March 28, 2003	Friday	Muharram 24, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

PESHAWAR, March 27: Water and Power Development Authority is losing about Rs1bn every month due to non-payment of electricity charges by consumers of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, official sources said.

Between 125m and 145m units are consumed by about 200,000 electricity consumers of Fata every month, according to the sources.

Against the total price of electricity sold to Fata consumers, Wapda hardly recovers five per cent of it, with only public sector consumers paying their monthly charges on a regular basis, said the sources.

Fata’s power consumers used up electricity costing Rs1.1bn in July 2002, whereas Wapda received Rs27m or thereabouts against it.

Similarly, against an assessed value of Rs980m of electricity consumed in August 2002, Rs25m came to Wapda coffers.

In September, the authority realized Rs14m out of the Rs992m assessed value of electricity consumed in that month.

The cost and return picture was no different in October either, when against the electricity worth Rs1,129m consumed by Fata consumers, the utility collected only Rs26m.

Likewise, Rs29m was raised against the assessed value of Rs1,092m in November, and a sum of Rs26.5m was netted in December when the electricity supplied to Fata that month cost the utility Rs1,023m.

In January and February, Rs24m and Rs10m, respectively, were received — much less than the assessed value of Rs874m and Rs731m, respectively.

Official sources in the NWFP government and Pesco — a Wapda subsidiary — held the political administration of Fata responsible for the ever-increasing arrears.

“Despite the fact that NWFP governor, in his capacity as head of the Fata administration, and top Wapda bosses have jointly been attempting to ensure regular recovery of electricity charges from Fata as well as multi-billion-rupee arrears, nothing came out of it,” said a well-placed official of the provincial government.

Wapda sources said that recovery of electricity dues from the power consumers of Fata was the responsibility of the political administration concerned.

The utility’s Fata arrears stood at well over Rs24bn at the end of February, the eighth month of the current financial year.

Of the total amount held up, the major chunk of Rs9.97bn is recoverable from Khyber agency, Rs4.3bn from North Waziristan agency, Rs2.9bn from Orakzai agency, Rs1.9bn from Mohmand agency, Rs1.9bn from Bajaur agency, Rs1.55bn from South Waziristan agency and Rs1.5bn from Kurram agency.

Even the establishment of a separate circle — Fata circle — on the part of Pesco to ensure regular payment of monthly electricity charges by the tribal consumers did not work the way the authority wanted.

Wapda’s Peshawar-based spokesman, when contacted, said that only the PAs could improve the recovery position “as they did not let us” to act against the defaulting electricity consumers on the pretext that it would create a law and order situation.

Wapda’s Fata arrears jumped to well over Rs24bn at the close of Feb 2003 from Rs4.1bn recorded at the end of Aug 2001.

This sharp increase has been attributed to the scraping of flat rate tariff mechanism previously in vogue for Fata’s domestic consumers.

In place of the flat rate of Rs636 per month charged for every domestic connection, Wapda started charging Fata’s domestic consumers at the rate of Rs1.55 per unit from January 1, 1999.

In the first revision effected on Sept 7, 2000, the tariff was raised to Rs1.68 per unit despite the fact that domestic consumers remained defiant, not willing to pay electricity charges. The rate was again raised to Rs1.72 per unit on Dec 30, 2000.

In line with a decision of Nepra, Fata’s domestic consumers are being charged Rs6.62 per unit from July 8, 2001, — at par with the power consumers of the settled areas of the country.

“Whereas the rate was increased in quick succession, the recovery did not improve, resulting in a mountain of arrears,” a provincial government official remarked.