Govt plans massive increase in security fee for new power connections
Business
Move to affect domestic, commercial, industrial consumers
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News/Web Desk) – As electricity is getting expensive, your ability to get access to it is also being challenged with the government planning to increase the security fee required for getting a new connection, sources say.
In this connection, the Power Division has moved the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to hike the security fee for domestic consumers from Rs1,220 to Rs18,000, which represents nearly 15 times increase.
On the other hand, the consumers using less than 10 kilowatt will pay at the rate of Rs20,000 kilowatt, while those applying for a single-phase connection are supposed to deposit Rs24,000.
At the same time, the Power Division has sought increasing the security fee for rural consumers to Rs7,800 per kilowatt, with the rate calculated at 1 per cent of the property value in case it covers an area of over 10 marlas.
The sources say the new calculations are based upon an estimated amount equivalent to three months of billing.
In case, the Nepra approves the proposed the move after conducting a hearing, new demand notices would be issued on the basis of revised formula.
However, the planned hike in security fee isn’t limited to domestic consumers only as the would-be commercial and small industrial consumers are also going to be affected the move.
That’s why the proposed increase for these two categories of consumers is from Rs2,010 per kilowatt to Rs57,000 per kilowatt.
Other categories of consumers to be covered by the security fee hike are streetlights, large industries and housing societies.
The planned increase in security fee for new electricity connections comes as there are suggestions to add new consumers to increase power consumption and reduce the capacity charges/payments paid to the power producers.
Hence, the move instead of encouraging electricity consumption will further discourage people from applying for new connections amid stubborn inflation and purchasing power crisis. But interestingly, the proposal, if approved, can automatically shift the focus towards installing more and more solar panels, which would help provision of cheaper energy but also tackle the climate crisis.
