Ministry, Nepra at loggerheads over proposed amendments

The Ministry of Energy and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) are still at loggerheads over proposed amendments in the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power, Bill 2017 - an apparent move to clip the wings of the regulator. This was witnessed at a meeting of the National Assembly Committee on Energy presided over by Chaudhry Bilal Ahmad Virk. Minister of State for Power Division Abid Sher Ali, Secretary Power Division Yousaf Naseem Khokhar and chairman Nepra Brigadier Tariq Saddozai (retired) represented their respective organizations.
The moment discussion on the proposed amendments in Nepra Act began, Secretary Power Division Yousaf Naseem Khokhar promptly said that Ministry of Energy and Nepra be given some time to evolve a consensus on the amendments. Chairman Nepra stated that the regulator is making all-out efforts to ensure transparency in the power sector, and expressed his gratitude to the Chairman of the Committee for giving a chance to his organization to present its viewpoint given Nepra's reservations on the proposed amendments.
As Chairman Nepra began to present his argument Chairman Standing Committee intervened, asking both the Energy Ministry and Nepra to sit together and evolve a consensus on the amendments within a week. He directed Nepra to submit its reservations regarding the amendments to the Committee's Secretary. Minister of State for Power Division Abid Sher Ali said that there is no load shedding in around 250 feeders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to improved recovery of bills.
He later spoke to the media and claimed that generation has touched 20,000MW and the government will formally announce "no load shedding" in November. Chairman Standing Committee dropped a few items on the agenda due to absence of CEO KE and CEO Sepco. However, CEO Pesco gave an overview of the electricity situation in KPK. One of the members raised the issue of massive over-billing in Karachi.
Managing Director Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) informed the parliamentary panel that running the company on a commercial basis was not economically viable with surplus staff regularized during the tenure of the PPP-led coalition government. Managing Director SSGCL also told the committee that it had been compelled to bear the extra burden of 4000 employees regularized through a presidential order during the PPP government's tenure. He added that as the head of the company it was his responsibility to run it in profit but it was difficult given the scale of over-staffing.
The committee discussed in detail the dismissal of contractual employees of the two gas distribution companies - Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited. Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf Member Shehryar Afridi stated that third party contractual employees were terminated on the letter-head of gas companies that do not have the mandate to fire them, as per law.
Afridi further contended that an estimated 1000 contractual employees were regularized in SNGPL through a presidential ordinance while 400 employees were regularized on higher scales on the recommendations of the regularization committee headed by Syed Khurshid Shah in 2008. Afridi maintained that services law stipulates that management of SNGPL should regularize those contractual employees who have served the company for more than ninety days.
Defending his decision to sack contractual employees, Managing Director Amjad Latif SNGPL pointed out that these employees were contractually obligated to leave after the expiry of their contracts; they however filed a petition in the High Court which upheld the termination decision of SNGPL. "We are ready to follow the ruling of court of law in case it directs that the services of the sacked employees be restored," he assured the committee.