Decision to hike tariff for protected electricity consumers 'withdrawn'

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has approved the withdrawal of its decision to hike the tariff for lifeline electricity consumers, who use up to 200 units, sources told Geo News.

The development has come, the sources said, after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took approval from the federal cabinet, on an emergency basis, for the circulation summary on this matter.

Sources had on July 4 told The News that the federal cabinet had decided to raise the electricity rate to implement a significant condition of the IMF.

The sources had said that the federal cabinet had approved an increase in the basic tariff of electricity and approval had been taken through a circulation summary.

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had sent the decision to the federal government to increase the basic tariff of electricity by an average of Rs5.72 a unit.

According to the government sources, the decision of the federal cabinet had to be sent to the Nepra for uniform tariff.

Following the Nepra's approval, the federal government was supposed to issue a notification to increase the basic tariff of electricity by July 10, under the IMF conditions. However, the government decided against it for a specific period.

As per the sources, the relief is for this year’s remaining summer period, from July to September 2024, for consumers with up to 200 units consumption a month.

The federal government would grant a subsidy of about Rs50 billion to provide relief on the tariff, the sources said.

They said for lifeline customers using up to 50 units a month, the tariff would remain at Rs3.95 a unit. Whereas, for lifeline users from 51 to 100 units a month, the tariff would remain at Rs7.74 a unit for the said period.