A FEW more details of the amendments being planned around the power sector regulator ought to be cause for grave concern, if only the opposition parties could be counted on to play their role in the affair. According to a report in this newspaper, the government is seeking additional powers to be able to attach any number of ‘surcharges’ to power bills. According to the official reason, the powers are wanted to help pay for a list of costs that are anticipated in the future. The anticipated costs read like a vague laundry list clearly designed to give the government broad powers to impose surcharges at any time for almost any purpose it deems fit. In fact, the details of the proposed amendments confirm one of the worst fears about the move: that it is an attempt to turn the bill collection machinery of the power sector into a surrogate revenue line. If passed, the proposed amendments will render Nepra’s powers to set power prices almost completely redundant, giving the government extensive authority to collect all sorts of other fees and charges through power bills.

If ever there was a role for the political opposition, it is now. The proposed amendments will deal a devastating blow to the powers of the regulator, despite the government’s claims that it is trying to strengthen the former through them. Of all the other aspects of the Nepra Act that are being revised through these amendments, the power to affect pricing is the central one, and even though Nepra will retain its authority to set tariffs, the fact that the government will be empowered to add on other fees and charges on its own means that all manner of costs will now be passed through to end consumers, without any chance of a public hearing. Many opposition lawmakers had raised strident objections when administrative control of the main regulators was transferred to their respective line ministries, but they appear to be acquiescent now that the real gambit has materialised. There are conflicting reports about whether or not the proposed amendments have been passed by the Council of Common Interests, but at some point they will have to be tabled in parliament. And if we do not hear spirited opposition in that crucial forum, it will be clear evidence that the opposition has caved in and cut some kind of a back-room deal with the government.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2017