Govt burdens electricity consumers by imposing fixed charges
Business
According to the proposal, domestic consumers will pay fixed charges of Rs200-1,000 a month
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The government has planned to squeeze masses further by imposing fixed tax on electricity consumers, including domestic users, over and above other levies being paid by them.
The NEPRA (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority) has issued a proposed tariff which will be implemented from July 1.
According to the proposal, domestic consumers will pay fixed charges of Rs200-1,000 a month which will be added in their electricity bills in five categories depending upon the consumption.
NEPRA also increased the charges by up to 300% for commercial and up to 355% for industrial consumers.
The first category of domestic consumers comprises those using 301 to 400 units. They will pay the fixed charges of Rs200 per month. The second category users – 401-500 units – will pay Rs400, from 501-600 will pay Rs600, from 601-700 units will pay Rs800 a month and those who use above 700 units will pay fixed charges of Rs1,000 a month. The consumers using the ToU (time of use) metre will also pay Rs1,000 fixed charges a month.
Commercial consumers having load less than 5kW will pay Rs1,000 a month as fixed charges. Those commercial users having load of 5kW and above will pay Rs2,000 from the existing Rs500 – an increase of 300%.
Industrial consumers in B1 category using up to 25kW under ToU metering will pay Rs1,000. Consumers in B2 category using up to 500kW will pay Rs2,000 instead of existing Rs500 a month fixed charges.
The B3 category industrial consumers using 5,000kW will pay fixed charges with an increase of 335% to Rs2,000 from Rs460 a month. The B4 category consumers will pay Rs2,000 a month from the existing Rs440.
At present, the total cost of electricity unit comprises 72% fixed charges and 28% variable charges. Still, on the revenue side, the fixed charges stand at just 2% and variable charges stand at 98%. The authorities have noticed a mismatch in the electricity tariff between cost and revenue structure.
The government will submit a petition with NEPRA seeking uniform tariff for FY25 after the regulator has determined the increase base tariff for FY25 at Rs5.72 per unit.
With the increase in base tariff, the power sector which is run by the government will burden the electricity consumers by over Rs3.763 trillion in the coming financial year.
For the outgoing FY24, the increase in base tariff was notified at Rs4.96 per unit as a result of which it was set at Rs29.78 per unit. The new base tariff for FY25 will increase to Rs35.50 per unit.
