ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has convened a meeting here on Monday to settle a dispute over the administrative control over the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and review its role.

Water and Power Minister Liaqat Ali Jatoi and the power secretary have been requesting Mr Aziz to place Nepra under the administrative control of the ministry of water and power to ensure better implementation of government policies.

The ministry also seeks to change the composition of the Nepra members. It says the Nepra members should not be representatives of provinces and, instead, they should be appointed on the basis of professional competence in technical, legal, financial and management fields.

On the other hand, the cabinet division has been opposing such a move on the ground that it will deprive Nepra of independence that ensures confidence to international investors and domestic consumers.

Currently, all the regulatory authorities are under the administrative control of the cabinet division.

The cabinet division believes that if Nepra’s control is handed over to the ministry of water and power, other ministries will also seek to take over regulatory bodies of their sectors.

The cabinet division contends that regulatory bodies should remain independent from the influence of relevant ministries and says that a sector required to be regulated cannot be allowed to regulate itself.

The meeting to be attended by the top brass of the water and power ministry, Wapda, the PPIB, Nepra and the cabinet division is also expected to take a decision on notification of separate tariffs for distribution companies of Wapda, which has been pending for more than a year.