New power tariff irks consumers

Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) and other Discos have issued electricity bill with new tariff which caused unrest among the industrial as well domestic consumers. The industrialists have strongly opposed the hike in power tariff by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), saying this development would not let the industry progress.
Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Muhammad Khan Saddozai has out rightly rejected the increase of 1.55/unit in electricity tariff from January 1, as announced by Nepra on the grounds that it was detrimental for the industries whose survival is already at stake due to continuous increase in power tariff by the government on one pretext or the other.
He said the government had increased power tariff by 150 percent in the last five years and some 26 percent during the last one-year. Taking a strong exception of the new tariff of Nepra applicable from January 1, he said industries were already suffering and now with that increase in tariff industries were about to shutdown.
He said the business was declining due to inflationary pressure but the government was following the International Monetary Fund and World Bank's dictations blindly. The new tariff rates, allowed by Nepra, have come at a time when the government was going and all economic indicators of the country are negative. The industries are struggling for survival; exporters are trying to face new challenges and competitions through cost-cutting measures.
In the backdrop of such a scenario Nepra should have insisted that discos must improve their efficiency and cut down its distribution and line losses. Such strong corrective measures can only offset the subsidy that the federal government has withdrawn. Continuous increase in tariff would only promote dissatisfaction, he asserted. He further said the industry was the biggest consumer of Discos with about lakhs of electricity connections and was the real source of generating revenue for Discos, but if continuous loadshedding was taking place how the utility could increase revenue.
He also stressed that industry consisted of mostly export-oriented industries and exporters materialised their orders in advance and under the circumstances increase in utility tariffs abruptly converts profit-making industries into loss. Muhammad Khan Saddozai appealed to all the governmental authorities to intervene in the matter and save the industrial sector from collapsing, which would increase unemployment.