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ISLAMABAD: The federal government increased power tariff by up to 27 paisa per unit across the country on Tuesday through a 2 per cent special surcharge to meet the commitment it has made to the International Monetary Fund. The increase, with immediate effect, will apply to consumers of all power companies, including Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), except lifeline consumers who use less than 50 units per month. The ministry of water and power has issued a formal notification to the effect.
The increase will generate about Rs900 million to Rs1 billion a month, which means the government will get additional revenue of Rs4 billion during the remaining period of the current financial year.
A senior water and power ministry official said the special surcharge had been imposed to cover a legal problem arising out of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) Act. As a result, the power tariff will go up by an average of 17 paisa per unit, ranging between 8 to 27 paisa per unit.
He said the tariff should have been increased on March 12, but the law ministry advised the government against it saying it could be challenged in the court. After a series of consultations among legal, financial and technical teams of the government, it was decided to use special powers of the government to impose the surcharge as an equalisation measure to maintain uniform rates across the country.
Under the Nepra Act, the government cannot increase power tariff beyond the benchmark tariff of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) determined by Nepra and currently being charged at a uniform rate across the country. Since the tariff of other power companies was comparatively high and did not meet the average electricity cost, the government has used its powers under a previous finance bill to impose the special surcharge.
The rates for the first residential consumers of 300 units a month were lower than the existing applicable rates and hence were increased through a determination of Nepra.
GENERAL CONSUMERS: Under the revised rates, the tariff for first 100 units for domestic consumers will increase by 8 paisa per unit to Rs4.45 per unit and for units between 101-300 will become dearer by 13 paisa to Rs6.73 per unit.
The third slab of domestic consumers with 301-700 units of monthly use would have to pay 21 paisa per unit more at Rs10.86 while consumers of more than 700 units will be charged at Rs13.55 per unit, with an increase of 27 paisa per unit.
The rates for bulk domestic consumers in housing colonies have been increased by 17-23 paisa per unit.
COMMERCIAL CONSUMERS: Commercial consumers with a sanctioned load of less than five kilowatts (kW) capacity will pay 26 paisa a unit more, rates at Rs13.26 per unit, while larger consumers with sanctioned load of more than 5 kW would have to pay 16 paisa per unit higher rates at Rs8.30 per unit.
The peak rates will increase by 23 paisa per unit to Rs11.71 and off-peak rates by 13 paisa per unit to Rs6.63.
INDUSTRIAL CONSUMERS: The rates for B-1 industrial consumers have been increased by 18 paisa to Rs9.08 per unit and for B-2 rates by 15 paisa to Rs7.74 per unit. The peak rates for B-2, B-3 and B-4 consumers have been jacked up by 22 paisa per unit.
AGRICULTURAL CONSUMERS: The rates for SCARP consumers have been increased by 17 paisa per unit to Rs8.64 per unit and for agricultural tubewells by 11 paisa to Rs5.42 per unit. The peak rates for SCARP and other agriculture tubewells have been increased by 20 paisa per unit to Rs10.33 per unit.
