ISLAMABAD, July 15: The armed forces’ General Headquarters on Monday threatened with self power generation if the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation was granted 16 per cent increase in its tariff.

While the GHQ came out for the first time against any tariff raise, the KESC managing director told the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority that the utility would get power shortly for summary trials of electricity thieves.

“Our contention is that an immediate 16pc increase in tariff and the multi-year tariff formula requested by the KESC is not justified,” Staff Officer to the director-general of works and GHQ Chief Engineer, Rab Nawaz Khan pleaded before Nepra on the first day of public hearing of the KESC’s tariff petition.

He said that defence forces were the biggest consumer of the KESC. The defence forces, he elaborated, had their own distribution network and bore distribution losses of the Karachi Cantonment.

The GHQ officer expressed dissatisfaction over the KESC losses and said that the utility should improve its technical and administrative efficiency and should not burden the defence forces.

“T & D (technical and distribution) loss of 41pc is too much as compared to similar companies like Lahore Electric Supply Company and Islamabad Electric Supply Company where losses were not more than 15.58pc,” said Mr Rab Nawaz.

“Isn’t it due to mismanagement and power stealing? Isn’t it due to misuse of electricity beyond the limits by the KESC’s own employees and isn’t it due to overstaffing?” he asked.

He informed the stunned and surprised members of Nepra and the KESC chief that armed forces were also producing electricity which was much cheaper than the power purchased from the KESC. “We have also conducted studies revealing that 3.48 paisa per unit is the generation cost for thermal power and if the utility is allowed to increase tariff, armed forces will shift to self generation,” he said.

Nepra member Mansoor Elahi asked why the GHQ did not raise these concerns on Wapda’s tariff petition, Mr Rab Nawaz replied that the GHQ had not been invited to participate in the proceedings. However, he revealed, the GHQ had received tariff petition according to which the armed forces would face Rs60 million additional burden.

The managing director of the KESC, Brigadier Tariq Saddozai, told Nepra that a decision to empower the KESC judges to conduct summary trials of power thieves had been taken by the government. He said the law ministry would issue a formal notification in this regards shortly.

Nepra was hearing the KESC petition seeking an immediate 16pc (69 paisa per unit) increase in the consumer tariff and an inflation-cum-investment-based multi-year tariff formula for 10 years.

Senior KESC officials explained to Dawn that under the said notification electricity thieves would face summary trials on the spot through an amendment in the Criminal Procedure Code of 1906.

The trial would entail penalty in the shape of fine or imprisonment or both. At present, one magistrate appointed by the provincial government is dealing with the KESC.

Presided over by the Vice-Chairman Fazlullah Qureshi, Nepra forum comprised its members Mansoor Elahi, Sardar M. Sharif, and Abdul Rahim.