ISLAMABAD, Sept 11: The consumer tariff of Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) companies is expected to go up by around five paisa per unit in the third week of the current month as a result of international fuel price increase, informed sources told Dawn.

Separately, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) is also expected to grant a five-year inflation-based multi-year tariff formula to the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) instead of 10-year formula requested by the utility.

Nepra sources said Wapda had been asked to provide by Sept 17 the details of additional expenditure it had to bear as a result of increase in furnace oil prices in the last quarter.

They said furnace oil prices had increased by around Rs1,000 per ton since Nepra granted tariff increase of 20 to 56 paisa per unit for Wapda consumers last month. Once Wapda provided with its expenditure estimates, Nepra would complete its deliberations and announce new fuel-based tariff increase within a week’s time.

Under the fuel-based tariff adjustment formula, Wapda companies are entitled to revise their tariff with the approval of Nepra on quarterly basis.

A KESC petition, seeking an immediate 16 per cent (69 paisa per unit) increase in consumer tariff and an inflation-cum-investment based multi-year tariff formula for 10 years, has been pending before Nepra for over six months now.

Sources confirmed that Nepra was obliged under an agreement between the federal government and the world bank to announce new tariff measures for Karachi consumers by Sept 10.

“The subject is very complex because it involved future caps on tariff but automatic increases on the basis of inflation and investment and we have to ensure that the new KESC investor has the predictability of its return on investment and at the same time consumers are also protected,” said a source, justifying the delay in announcement of its determination.