NWFP Assembly on Tuesday passed two unanimous resolutions demanding of the government to withdraw proposal for increase in power tariff and review of the sureties bond for electricity connections. The second resolution was against the requisition of Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco) for 30 percent increase in the electricity tariff of the agricultural tube-wells.
The house proposed that the federal government should withdraw the proposal for increase in the power tariff and maintain post March electricity tariff in the country.
Senior parliamentarian Abdul Akbar Khan of PPP-Parliamentarians and Saqibullah Khan Chamkani of ANP moved the two identical resolutions. The resolutions said that Pesco has submitted a requisition with National Electricity Price Regulatory Authority (Nepra) for increasing tariff rates for both public and private sectors consumers and review of surety bonds in the province, which is sheer injustice with the people of the Frontier Province. The House, through the resolution suggested that the federal government should withdraw the requisition for increase in the power tariff to maintain the post March price of electricity.
The resolutions said that increase in the tariff on the basis of unsatisfactory performance of Pesco is not justified and urged on the federal government to take measures for bringing improvement in the performance of the power distribution company, take necessary measures for arresting the line losses and enforcing unified power tariff across the country.
It further urged the federal government to pay subsidy for the line losses of the bad performing power companies to retrieve the consumers of the backward province of further financial burden. The speakers put the resolutions to vote and the whole house replied it in affirmative.
The matter was earlier raised by Abdul Akbar Khan, who said that Pesco has filed requisition with Nepra for increase in the power tariff. He said that Pesco has the largest line losses with 30 to 35 percent as compare to other discos, whose line losses are ranging from 6 to 7 percent.
He said that earlier, federal government was used to pay subsidy to the power distribution companies in head of the line losses. However, he said that now federal government has refused to pay subsidy on the line losses of the Pesco and for the recovery of the financial crunch, the company has requested Nepra for increase in the power tariff. In case of acceptance of the requisition, he said that price of electricity would go up by 100 percent.
The senior parliamentarian, who is also known as an authority on the financial and economic matters of the province said that NWFP was consuming electricity, generated 100 percent from hydel sources, which is cheapest source of power generation. He said that the consumers of NWFP were paying double price of the electricity.
He said that Pesco due to incompetency has not only failed in arresting of the line losses, but has also not improved its system. He said that the employees of the company are responsible for massive power theft. He said that the acceptance of the requisition will hit both domestic and agricultural consumers and asked the chief minister to intervene into the matter and raise it with federal government either to improve system or hand over the company to the provincial government.
Taking the floor, the Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said that he had already raised the matter with federal government and has opposed increase in the power tariff in the capacity of the chief executive of the province.
While winding debate on law and order situation in the province, the chief minister told the House that the current situation is insurgency and not lawlessness, which are two different things. He said that they are fully aware of their responsibilities, as the people had mandated them for bringing them out of the prevailing situation. The chief minister reiterated his stance of the resolution of the problems through negotiations. However, he said that negotiations would be held with those who are interested in it and when there will be no other option that they would ultimately go for the operation.
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