Chairman, members must not be 60 plus: Term of Nepra members reduced to 3 years

ISLAMABAD: The government has trimmed the term of Nepra members to three years from four years whereas the age limit for chairman and members will not be more than 60 years at the time of appointment.

According to statement of objects and reasons, the amendments in the Act are aimed at strengthening the administration of the regulator in power sector. Hence, the criterion prescribed in the proposed amendment for the appointment of the Members and Chairman are made explicit according to the positions they hold, rather than mere representation of the provinces.

The joint sitting of the Parliament on November 17, 2021 approved amendments in the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act, 1997 called The Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2021], as passed by Senate and not passed by the National Assembly within ninety days, presented by Senator Mohsin Aziz under clause (3) of Article 70 of the Constitution.

According to the amendments, for Sub-section (2), following shall be substituted: The Authority shall consist of a Chairman and four specialized members, to be appointed by the Federal Government. The Authority shall comprise of – (a) Member Tariff and Finance who shall be a person holding a degree the field of Economics, Corporate Finance or chartered accountancy and is a professional of known integrity and eminent with a minimum of twelve years of related experience in the field of corporate finance of chartered accountancy and shall be nominated by the Provinces or Federal Government, as the case may be, by rotation in the following order namely (i) the member representing the province Balochistan; (ii) the member representing Punjab; (iii) the member representing KP; and (iv) member representing Sindh.

b- The Member Technical, Tariff, Law, Development will be a professional of known integrity and eminence in the relevant fields with a minimum of twelve years and shall be nominated by the Provinces or Federal Government, as the case may be, by rotation.

For sub-section (4), following shall be substituted, namely “every member (four members) of the Authority shall be appointed for a period of three years on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed. In sub-section (5) the words “and a member” shall be omitted. In sub-section (5), for the first proviso, the following shall be substituted, namely “provided that the Chairman or a member shall not be appointed under sub-section (2) if he has attained the age of sixty years.

In sub-section (5) for the second proviso, following shall be substituted namely: -“provided further that the process of appointment of new Chairman or member under section-2 shall be finalized ninety days prior to the retirement of incumbent Chairman or member as the case may be;”

In sub-section (5), after the second proviso, following shall be inserted, namely “provided further that the process of appointment shall be finalized within ninety days in case of vacancy created due to the death, resignation or removal of the Chairman or member. The Federal Government shall appoint a member to work as an acting Chairman till the appointment of new Chairman within the prescribed time period.”

Amendment of section 5, Act XL of 1997: In the said Act, in section 5, for sub-section (2), following shall be substituted, namely: - the Chairman and two other members shall constitute a quorum for a meeting of the Authority requiring a decision by the Authority “Provided that the members of the Authority shall, nominate a member amongst themselves to work as an acting Chairman in case absence of the Chairman as the case may be, for meeting of the Authority.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021