ISLAMABAD, Feb 23: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has notified Performance Standard (Distribution) Rules, 2005, making it mandatory for power distribution companies to guarantee a minimum overall standard of quality service to its consumers.

Failing to provide the mandatory level of service can make the distribution companies liable to imposition of fines and penalty, stated an official announcement issued here on Wednesday.

The standards are applicable on the distribution companies from the date of notification, January 11, 2005. However, a period of four years from the date of notification of the rules has been provided to the distribution companies to upgrade their distribution systems and bring them at par with the prescribed standards before penalties for the violation of these standards will become applicable.

The announcement said Nepra had prescribed and notified the new rules in exercise of the powers coffered on it by Section 46 of the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act, 1997.

The rules include such standards as the number and duration of power supply interruptions and time required to provide new connections. These standards have further been categorized with respect to voltage level, urban/rural and planned/ unplanned power interruption.

According to the rules, the power distribution companies are also required to maintain a prescribed overall performance in terms of electric power reliability, voltage and frequency of power supply.

The standards include power supply restoration time (hours), annual number and duration of individual consumer power supply interruptions, voltage range of plus/minus 5 per cent and frequency range of plus/minus 1 per cent from nominal voltage and frequency of power supply at consumer supply terminals.

Besides, time limits for new connections categorized based on the zone of load and voltage level, electric safety standards and non-discriminatory principles and priorities of load-shedding to be followed by power distribution companies.

The distribution companies, according to the rules, shall be required to maintain a computerized data base, local/regional complaint offices, and toll-free telephone numbers for receiving complaints regarding power supply interruptions. All the complaints shall be registered with specific allotted phone numbers.