ISLAMABAD: Not satisfied by the audit report on the issue of overbilling, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday constituted a special high-powered committee to examine afresh the issue of inflated electricity bills.

The committee, to be headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, will determine the facts that led to bloated electricity bills issued to consumers over the past couple of months. The committee will also propose corrective measures to provide relief to domestic consumers.

Also read: Attorney general, Nepra issued notices in overbilling case

Other members of the committee include Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Power Minister Khawaja Asif, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir and the new Power Secretary Younus Dagha.

The committee’s terms of reference include finding out whether the reduction of Rs65 billion in circular debt was actually the result of recovered arrears or achieved by inflated bills. The committee is also expected to report on the “most appropriate form of relief package for domestic consumers of electricity”.

Committee to recommend ways of compensating consumers forced to pay inflated bills

Mr Dagha, who replaced long-serving bureaucrat Nargis Sethi, proposed that Rs22bn be provided as relief to all consumers using between 300 and 500 units per month.

The committee is expec­ted to present its findings and recommendations to the federal cabinet on Nov 6.

According to a government source privy to the meeting, the PM was quite displeased when told that the problem was largely caused by the complicated slab system for different consumers, which needed to be revisited. The issue of inaccurate meter readings was also highlighted but the PM refused to accept this argument and told the committee to investigate the matter thoroughly.

This was the first of a series of cabinet meetings the government has announced as part of a performance evaluation exercise for all federal ministries and divisions. The next such sitting is expected to take place on Nov 6. On Friday, three ministers — Khawaja Asif, Saad Rafique and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi — were scheduled to make presentations. But the cabinet could only take stock of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources before being bogged down with the overbilling audit.

The cabinet was told that two audit firms had been hired to investigate the overbilling. In their initial reports, the firms had superficially pointed towards a 31 per cent increase in billing, of which 22pc was due to a tariff increase last year and 9pc was attributed to an increase in consumption.

After the meeting, the PM directed the chief ministers of all provinces to ensure that the impact of a decrease in petroleum prices must trickle down to the common man. He ordered provincial governments to keep a check on transport fares as well as the prices of basic commodities.

“Despite the sit-ins and political [disruptions] … the present government has succeeded in passing over the decrease in international oil prices,” an official statement quoted the PM as saying. 

Published in Dawn, November 1st , 2014