ISLAMABAD: Accepting a demand made by Imran Khan last week, the federal government decided on Sunday to hand over administrative control of the electricity distribution system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the PTI-led provincial government.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will formally write to the KP chief minister in a couple of days, asking his government to run the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco) which looks after the power distribution system and recovery of bills in the province.

A press release issued by the PM’s office said that on a request of the Ministry of Water and the Power, the prime minister had decided in principal to write to the KP government to take control of Pesco. The letter will be sent in a couple of days.

The federal government is of the opinion that the letter would be in line with the 18th Amendment which allows provinces to take over the system and recover electricity bills.

At a press conference in Peshawar on Thursday, PTI chief Imran Khan asked the federal government to hand over Pesco to the provincial government for its effective management because the province was suffering from frequent power breakdowns.

Not satisfied with Pesco efforts to recover bills, Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif immediately accepted Mr Khan’s proposal and said he would take up the matter with the prime minister.

The federal government’s willingness to hand over Pesco to KP appears to be related to the Quetta situation where the electricity supply company (Qesco) has to recover Rs88 billion dues from consumers. Domestic users and industrial units in the city have to pay to Qesco Rs58 billion and the public sector Rs27 billion.

When Pesco stopped supplying electricity in August this year to areas with poor recovery of bills, violent protests erupted and Pesco offices and vehicles were set on fire, especially in Hangu.

Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali has been regularly raising the issue of power theft in KP and Balochistan in parliament.

Welcoming the federal government’s decision to hand over the charge of Pesco to the provincial government, KP Chief Minister Parvez Khattak also asked the federal government to hand over control of electricity generation in the province. Mr Khattak reminded the federal government that the 4,200MW of hydel power was being generated in the province and asked the prime minister to let the provincial government handle the sector.

A handout issued by the KP government stated the chief minister as saying that a detailed letter would be written to the federal government in this connection. Tarbela dam is the main source of electricity generation in the KP. Taking the advantage of federal government’s willingness to discuss the matters related to electricity, Mr Khattak also raised the issue of Rs100 billion royalty which he claimed the federal government owed to the province.

Officials on both sides are sceptical about the transfer of Pesco control to the provincial government. A PTI office-bearer said the federal government would neither hand over control of electricity generation to the KP government nor would the latter accept the job of mere bill collection.

A Wapda official said the federal government would be very happy if the PTI government helped it to recover bills.