Govt should withdraw decision to increase power tariff’

LAHORE: Citizens and businessmen, expressing resentment over the 82 percent increase in power tariff in the last three years, demanded the government take back its recent decision of introducing a six percent raise in power tariffs on Wednesday.


Recording his protest, Council of Pakistan Affairs (CPA) Chairman Mian Qamar Zaman told Daily Times that the government was not working on increasing its resources and was ultimately shifting the burden on citizens by increasing power tariffs and inflation. “The upper-class are stealing electricity in connivance with WAPDA employees, ranging from a lineman to a sub-divisional engineer. The government needs to focus on increasing resources and controlling power theft,” he added.

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry has criticised the government for making an 82 percent increase in power tariffs in the last three years, adding that the accumulative impact becomes more than a 100 percent when other charges in electricity bills are included.

The LCCI president said that instead of making repeated increases in power tariffs to overcome the shortfall, the authorities should concentrate on controlling line losses, electricity theft, inefficiency and bad governance, as PEPCO is reportedly facing a loss of Rs 45 billion to 55 billion under the head of line losses and power thefts. He said the Kalabagh Dam was the only solution to ensure the availability of cheaper electricity, terming it a multi-purpose project that could generate 3.5 GW of cheaper electricity and reduce the oil import bill by 40 percent.

Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) Chairman Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that the hike in power tariffs was being implemented to please the IMF, on the pretext of fuel adjustment and a 12 percent raise in gas tariff from July 1, adding that the move would push the trade industry to the brink of destruction. The government should review its decision in the larger interests of the economy, he said, adding that the continuous raises in power tariffs were earning the government a bad name besides damaging its economic targets.

The chairman said that despite a strong opposition by the private sector, the government opted for rental power stations “that have jacked up the cost of Pakistani products manifold and the same are fast becoming uncompetitive in the international market”.

It is worth noting that the government of former president Pervez Musharraf had made a 10 percent increase in power tariffs on February 24, 2007, after which the sitting Pakistan People’s Party government made an increase of 14 percent on March 1, 2008. An 18 percent increase was made on September 5, 2008, a one percent on February 25, 2009, a six percent raise on October 1, 2009, a one-and-a-half percent raise on December 23, 2009, twelve percent on January 1, 2010 and a six percent increase has only recently been announced. The rest of the total 82 percent increase was made up of additional charges collected by the authorities. shabbir sarwar.

Source: dailytimes.com.pk