Coronavirus outbreak: 'Waiving off electricity bills not viable solution at all'

Waiving off the electricity bills of those earning Rs 25,000 per month or below due to the outbreak of coronavirus is not viable at all and the only possible way out is to delay the payment for certain period if someone comes with distress, said sources.
They have further added that this facility of delayed payment can also be extended only on case to case basis. A section of political leadership in the country has recently demanded of the government to waive off electricity and Sui gas bills of those earning Rs 25,000 per month or below, since the coronavirus outbreak had almost closed down businesses, affecting and leaving millions of labourers jobless across the country.
The Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) sources pointed out that the average tariff of Rs 15.80/unit is consisted of Rs 6/unit average fuel cost, Rs0.80/unit capacity charges, Rs 6/unit energy supply cost, Rs0.31/unit financial charges and 17 percent general sales tax, Neelum Jhelum surcharge and Net Hydel at present.
One power sector expert Tahir Basharat Cheema said the actual tariff will be reduced by Rs0.80/unit if you remove the burden of capacity charges, worth Rs 80 billion per annum, from the tariff.
Similarly, he added, if the distributions companies (DISCOs) increase the volume of revenue collection by another 10 percent, the overall collection would reach to Rs 120 billion that would reduce the electricity tariff by another Rs 1.20/unit.
At present, PEPCO sources added, the power sector line losses stand at 15.7 percent, and if the DISCOs reduce the losses to 13 percent, it would have an impact of Rs 0.40/unit in the tariff. Besides, they said, if the power generation is delinked from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), it would reduce tariff by another Rs 0.45/unit.
Meanwhile, the receivables on the part of general consumers are Rs 1200, which is part of the circular debt. Even, if the DISCOs collect Rs 200 billion besides the actual recovery, the electricity tariff would be down by another Rs 2/unit.
Sources said those consuming 50 units per month are charged with Rs 4.5/unit and the amount of subsidy being extended to them adds a burden of Rs 1.5/unit in the tariff. Similarly, they said, the agriculture tube-wells are offered with the electricity tariff of Rs 6/unit, out of which a small portion is borne by the government while rest of the load is shifted to the general consumers.
Therefore, they said, the high-end domestic consumers paying the electricity tariff of Rs 22/unit, followed by Rs 25/unit by the commercial consumers, Rs 18.5/unit by the industrial consumers, Rs 6/unit by the agricultural consumers on tube-wells and Rs 4.5/unit by the life line consumer at present.
PEPCO sources said a reduction in power tariff is possible only if efficient resources are put in place while avoiding adhocism at the level of DISCOs.