Nepra imposes Rs5 million penalty on K-Electric

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday said it slapped five million rupees in penalty on K-Electric for its failure to provide reliable and non-discriminatory power supply to the consumers.

Nepra took the decision “due to non-compliance of (K-Electric with) the performance standards, distribution code and direction of the authority as given in the order dated 25-03-2016 regarding provision of electricity to all consumers without any discrimination who meet the consumer eligibility criteria”.

KE’s spokesperson said the utility would seek reconsideration of the decision.

“K-Electric is a law-abiding and responsible organization which ensures compliance with all respective regulations and guidelines,” the spokesperson added. “The power utility will approach the regulatory authority for reconsideration.”

Nepra said the penalty was based on the findings of a committee constituted by the Nepra to verify facts regarding prolonged hours of load shedding by K-Electric in Ramazan in 2017 and after Sindh High Court directed Nepra to ensure compliance with the authority’s order.

The committee visited the generation, transmission and distribution facilities of K-Electric from June 1 to 5, 2017, in order to monitor and verify load shedding in different areas of Karachi, current generation capacity of K-Electric and its utilisation, number of interruptions/faults and implementation of investment plans.

The committee submitted a comprehensive report to Nepra “which raised serious concerns on the performance of K-Electric and the authority decided to initiate legal proceedings against K-Electric”.

“Explanation followed by show cause notice was issued to K-Electric. Two opportunities of hearing were also provided, wherein, the representatives of K-Electric made their submissions, however, failed to provide any satisfactory response to the alleged violations.”

Nepra said different units of Bin Qasim Power Station-I tripped frequently during May 2017 “owing to improper maintenance”.

“In addition, a huge number of unplanned interruptions of prolonged duration occurred due to K-Electric’s weak and fragile distribution network,” it said in a statement. “All this cumulatively resulted in extended load shedding, ranging from 14 to 16 hours in Karachi during the month of May 2017.”

In March 2016, the Nepra also decided to impose five million rupees “to be paid by KE within thirty days of issuance of this decision”.

The decision of the authority was in the matter of show cause notice issued to K-Electric in July 2015.

The Nepra said it issued show cause notice due to extended hours of load shedding, system failures and power supply breakdowns noted in the service territory of K-Electric causing uprising and unrest in the consumers of K-Electric.