Centre starts preparatory work for transferring Discos to provinces
Business
18th Amendment has empowered federating units to distribute, generate power and fix tariff
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – With the much-awaited transfer of power distribution companies (Discos) to the provinces, the federal government has started working on the move to ensure a smooth process, as the federating units are supposed to deal with the matter after the 18th Amendment.
Although the 18th Amendment was passed April 10, 2010, the provinces were earlier reluctant to take the responsibility despite the then prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi floating the idea during his tenure before 2018 general elections.
However, solid progress is being made since Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assumed the office as the smaller provinces expressed their willingness towards devolving the subject – a matter that involves huge responsibilities.
Sources are now saying that the Planning Commission is currently involved in working on defining a mechanism so that the Discos could be prepared for being handing over to the provinces after the prime minister to finalise the required mechanism. It includes framing Terms of Reference (ToRs) for the transaction advisor.
Under the Article 157 of the Constitution, the provinces are now authorised to levy tax on consumption of electricity; construct power houses and grid stations and lay transmission lines for use within the Province; and determine tariff.
However, a provincial government can determine tariff for within the respective province only when it purchases electricity in bulk from national grid station for distribution or when it constructs power houses and grid stations and lays transmission lines for use within province.
That’s why the first step in this direction is transfer of Discos to the provinces – a future development for which Sindh is taking the lead by introducing necessary legislation.
Earlier this month, the Sindh Assembly passed the Sindh Regulation of Electric Power Services Bill 2023 for allowing the provincial government to establish its own regulatory authority.
Named as the Sindh Electric Power Regulatory Authority (SEPRA), the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) will now require consultations with the provincial body before issuing any licence related to electricity generation.
It empowers the Sindh government to produce, supply, and distribute electricity from its grid stations besides determining tariffs in the province.
