ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday sought power purchase agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) signed by previous governments. Noor Alam Khan chaired the meeting of the committee which examined the Audit Report of the Cabinet Division for the year, 2019-20.

The chairman committee said the tariff on electricity came down when demand increased but in Pakistan, the position was the opposite. He asked how they would run the industry without the supply of electricity.

Chairman and Members committee complained about the load-shedding and the inflated electricity bills. National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) Chairman Tauseef H Farooqi said he also received an electricity bill of Rs68,000, whereas, his monthly salary was Rs700,000.

He said the Nepra allowed a power losses benchmark of 13 percent against 17 percent reported losses last year. “The line losses have come down to 11 percent,” he added. Responding to a question, he said the line losses of Kesco reached 65 percent. He further explained that the CPPA had the mandate to determine capacity payment charges with IPPs. He further said the Nepra had allowed a tariff of Rs12.5 per unit on net metering.

The Ogra chairman said his net salary was Rs1.1 million. I had been receiving a salary in Euro before joining the chairman Ogra. He further said 832 CNG stations had been closed due to the unavailability of gas.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022