Twin bombs dropped on power consumers in form of additional charges

The government has delivered twin shocks to electricity consumers the same day, by imposing an additional burden of Rs128 billion.

A surcharge of Rs76 billion will be applicable to fulfil one of the conditions of the IMF, while Rs52 billion will be charged in the form of deferred payments.

Moreover, Nepra will hear on March 16 an application to increase the surcharge further by Rs1.80.

In an apparent fulfillment of another condition of the IMF, the federal government has imposed an additional surcharge of Rs3.39 per unit on power customers.

Also Read: Power tariff for KE consumers hiked by Rs4.76

The Power Division has issued an official notification of collecting Rs76 billion from March to June.

The total surcharge will increase to Rs3.82 per unit.

Currently, electricity consumers are paying a surcharge of 43 paisas per unit.

The surcharge will also be applicable to the K-Electric customers, the notification said.

The second bomb has been dropped in the form of recovery of Rs52 billion deferred due to the floods last year.

According to the Nepra notification, Rs14.24 per unit will be collected from consumers in eight months.

The dwellers of Karachi will bear the burden of Rs9.90 per unit.

Those utilizing up to 200 units of electricity will be charged between 89 paisas and Rs2, while those utilizing up to 300 units will be charged 89 paisas to Rs2.75 per unit.

Fuel adjustment from K-Electric

On the other hand, there is further bad news for the people of Karachi.

Nepra has increased the cost of electricity for the consumers of Karachi by Rs71 paisas per unit under fuel adjustment charges for January.

These additional charges will be collected in the bills for March.

For the rest of the country, electricity rate has been increased by 48 paisas per unit under fuel adjustment for January.

Additional recovery from electricity consumers will be done in January bills.