PM Kakar convenes emergency meeting today after countrywide outrage against electricity bills

Last updated on: 27 August,2023 11:59 am

People are taking to streets across Pakistan as power crisis unfolds

LAHORE (Dunya News/Web Desk) – The countrywide protests sparked by the unprecedented hike in power tariff and the resultant monthly bills received by consumers forced the caretaker government on Saturday to review and calm down the situation, promising to provide maximum relief to them.

It was Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar who personally interacted with the people through a post on X – the social media platform formally known as Twitter – saying that he had convened an emergency meeting at the PM Office on Saturday.

بجلی کے بھاری بِلوں کے معاملے پر میں نے کل وزیر اعظم ہاؤس میں ہنگامی اجلاس طلب کر لیا ہے۔ اجلاس میں وزارت بجلی اور تقسیم کار کمپنیوں سے بریفنگ لی جائے گی اور صارفین کو بجلی کے بِلوں کے حوالے سے زیادہ سے زیادہ ریلیف دینے کے حوالے سے مشاورت کی جائے گی۔

— Anwaar ul Haq Kakar (@anwaar_kakar) August 26, 2023

The Power Division and the distribution companies would brief the meeting followed by a detailed discussion on how to give relief to the consumers in their bills, he added.

It is the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which forced the coalition government to hike the power and gas tariffs as well as the fuel prices despite the fact that the ruling parties were not in favour of the move.

Thus, these IMF conditions may now cause social unrest in Pakistan which is already going through an economic crisis.

Earlier, the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) sought police protection while fearing that the situation might develop into a law and order issue and result in damage to its property as unprecedented hike in power tariff triggered protests in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

In a letter dated August 25, the Iesco said the staff members were facing a safety issue and requested the Rawalpindi police chief to deploy personnel at the Iesco offices as people in form of groups and mob to register their protest.

The spontaneous series of protests erupted across Pakistan as people started receiving their monthly bills with a huge hike in rate, including the increase in base price and the monthly fuel charged adjustment which meant the duties and fees being collected by the government saw a historic jump, thus propelling the total payable amount to an unbearable for the inflation-hit consumers.

So these taxation measures include the power distribution company’s charges, excise duty, general sales tax and financing cost surcharge along with the TV fee. Barring the TV fee, the amount added to a bill under each head increases with the hiked tariff.

Hence, protests were held in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Attock, Okara, Sargodha, Haripur and many other cities where the angry people demanded immediate reduction in tariff and withdrawal of taxes.

The complete failure of the IMF policies and guidelines can be gauged by the fact that the electricity consumption – just like that of petrol and diesel – has declined in Pakistan, meaning that the very purpose of hiking the prices to generate more revenue reached its limit.

But the long-term effects of the IMF conditions are much more devastating in the shape of reduced economic activities, lack of investment and absence of job opportunities as the inflation reached the historic-high levels due to these measures, creating a cost of living crisis in the country.