ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has practically become ineffective as the two larger provinces - Sindh and Punjab - have lost their representations. Six out of eight distribution companies of Wapda and Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) are in the Punjab and Sindh besides majority of public sector power generation companies and independent power producers (IPPs). Against a sanctioned strength of four, Nepra at present has two members from Balochistan and NWFP where only two distribution companies of Wapda operate.

Nepra was established through the 1997 Nepra Act under a decision of the Council of Common Interest (CCI). Under the act, the members are required to be nominated by the respective provincial governments.

The Nepra member from Sindh, Fazlullah Qureshi, was relieved from his post on November 19, as he reached the age of 65. The Sindh government had last month nominated Ashiq Hussain Shah to replace Mr Qureshi but the federal government returned the summary with the advice to forward a panel of at least three nominations.

The post of Nepra member from Punjab has been lying vacant since April 2004 when Mansoor Elahi completed his tenure. The Punjab government had submitted a panel of four nominations to fill the post.

A ministerial selection committee led by minister for privatization Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh had selected Hussain A. Babur from amongst the panel through a detailed test and interview process but the federal government did not notify his appointment for unknown reasons.

Nepra has been reminding the federal government to fill the post of member Punjab but the post remained vacant for more than two years now.

The ministry of water and power had requested the prime minister to change the nomenclature of Nepra and selection process of its members by inducting provincial members on the basis of their expertise in the field of law, technical, financial and management instead of nominations from the provinces.

The ministry had also requested the prime minister to relieve the existing Nepra members by reducing their term through an ordinance on the pattern of Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) to induct new members because the existing members have been resisting certain demands of the power ministry relating to fixation of electricity tariffs.

The ministry had also sought to change the selection committee by appointing power minister as its head instead of the privatization minister and place Nepra under the administrative control of the power ministry instead of the cabinet division.

The power ministry was of the opinion that change in the nomenclature and membership was necessary to effectively implement government policies.

These recommendations were opposed by the Nepra chairman on the ground that these would erode the independence of the regulatory authority that was otherwise a must to create a balance among the interests of the consumers, investors and the government.

The prime minister had directed the relevant agencies of the government and constituted a committee led by adviser to the prime minister on energy to come up with a comprehensive plan to overcome the situation.

Nepra had refused to increase consumer tariff as suggested by the power ministry last year and in response the ministry did not notify power tariff determined by Nepra last year which was lower than the existing tariff. This year again the tariff revision which should have been implemented in July has been delayed.

Two subsequent deadlines agreed to with the World Bank for notification of separate tariffs of Wapda companies by September 30 and then November 15 have been missed by the government owing to a row between Nepra and the power ministry.