ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) is expected to change terms and conditions for domestic consumers to exclude all educational institutions, madressahs, mosques and government offices from the category of consumers enjoying subsidised power rates.

The regulator would be holding a public hearing by the end of this month to seek suggestions from all stakeholders before formally taking a decision, a Nepra official said.

At present, all educational institutions, government offices, mosques, madressahs and other places of worship are included in the domestic category. More than 200,000 consumers are under this category. They are technically not residential consumers but enjoy slab benefits and lifeline facility of domestic consumers. Many of them are even treated as lifeline consumers.

The move has been initiated by power distribution companies (Discos) of Wapda which have been pointing out to the government for some time to take a political decision on the change of terms and conditions of domestic consumers.

Power subsidy for schools, govt offices, mosques, madressahs may go

According to Discos, madressahs, mosques and other places of worship, educational institutions and even government offices should be excluded from the list of domestic consumers and they should either be treated as commercial consumers or a new consumer category should be created for them.

For political reasons, successive governments have shied away from taking such a decision because of expected criticism from religious groups.

An official claimed that the previous PPP government had decided to exclude such consumers from the domestic category even in the case of gas supply, but it had to withdraw the decision.

The distribution companies argue that consumers using up to 50 units per month are originally categorised as lifeline consumers (those living below poverty line) and such consumers are charged lowest tariff through highest subsidy.

According to Nepra, the distribution companies have also pointed out that all government offices, places of worship and educational institutions are billed under the domestic tariff category and that they enjoy slab benefits and subsidised rates of life-line consumers.

The distribution companies now want these consumers to be separated from the domestic category and put in a new category having similar rates but no slab benefit or lifeline facility. They argue that the issue is not of political nature and falls under the regulatory regime. They have asked Nepra to take a decision under its tariff rules.

Nepra is convinced with the argument that under rules 3(1), it has suo moto powers to hold proceedings into the matter.

The regulator has observed in its tariff determination for the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) for fiscal year 2013-14 that it will look into the issue separately by conducting a public hearing into the matter.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2014