PEOPLE heaved a sigh of relief as the PML(N) Government lived up to its repeated pledges to bring down the prices of electricity, a task considered as Herculean in view of the malaises affecting the power sector and commitments made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
No doubt, the Government took a considerable time in deciding the issue but the announcement of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday to reduce the electricity rates by Rs.7.41 for all categories of consumers was really a worthwhile Eid gift.
The PM de-scribed the decision as the first humble relief to the consumers braving agonizing energy costs, promising there would be further reduction in tariffs next month (May) after implementing structural reforms in the power sector.
The Government surely deserves credit for meaningfully resolving an issue that had become a number one concern for people of Pakistan, who have been agitating against the trend of repeated upward adjustment of electricity prices.
The issue became so serious that in many cases monthly electricity bills surpassed the total family income, leaving nothing for households to spend on other necessities.
The reduction assumes greater significance as it has been announced at the onset of the summer when electricity consumption understandably increases.
Apart from multiplying hardships of the inflation-ridden individual consumers, the high cost of electricity was one of the main hurdles in the way of accelerating economic activities and forced many consumers to look for the solar solution.
As highlighted by the Prime Minister himself, the tariff reduction was made possible because of devotion and hard work of the members of the Task Force on Energy including Power Minister Awais Leghari, Lt Gen Zafar Iqbal, PM’s Advisor Muhammad Ali and Power Secretary Fakhre Alam as well the contribution by the Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir.
The per-unit tariff reduction announced by the Prime Minister includes a cut of about Rs1.90 on account of lower quarterly tariff adjustments (QTA) for the second quarter (October-December) of FY25, Rs1.71 against Rs10 per litre increase in petroleum levy on petrol and diesel, over Re1 from a Rs791 per unit grid levy on industrial captive power plants and about Rs3 on account of terminations and revisions in contracts of independent power producers (IPPs) and government power plants.
One must appreciate the cooperative attitude of the IPPs and negotiating skills of the Finance Secretary who successfully secured a nod from the IMF for the relief.
It is also satisfying that the government is determined to continue making efforts to provide further relief to consumers by way of resolving the complex issues of circular debt, reforms in Discos, jettisoning junk Gen-cos, modernization of distribution and transmission networks, reducing line losses, moving firmly against theft and default as well as privatization/commercialization of the Discos.
The decision of the government to bring down the electricity tariff has widely been acclaimed by all segments of the society with FPCCI President Atif Akram Sheikh emphasizing that the tariff reduction, coupled with the recent decrease in the policy interest rate, will significantly resolve issues faced by industrialists.
Similarly, President of the Markazi Tanzeem-e-Tajran, Muhammad Kashif Chaudhry has welcomed the decision terming it as good omen for progress of the country but rightly pointed out that the government should announce a uniform slab system and end system of peak and off-peak hours.
Hopefully, the people-friendly solution of the issue will result in household savings, generate economic activities and bring down the cost of production and consumer cost of goods.
It should also have a salutary impact on the overall price situation in the country.
While welcoming the announcement of the Prime Minister to provide further relief to consumers through a combination of measures, we would invite his attention to an exploitative mechanism that adds uncalled for burden on electricity consumers.
Presently, consumers crossing a slab even by one unit are charged the rate of that slab for the next six months even if consumption during these months is much less than that slab.
This is a disadvantage for saving electricity and one of the major factors of inflation bills, therefore, needs to be reviewed forthwith.
