Circular debt:K-Electric to collect Rs1.52/unit surcharge from Dec 2023 to Nov 2024

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) approved a hike of Rs1.52  per kWh surcharge for Karachi Electric (KE) consumers for a period of twelve months from December 2023 to November 2024 upon federal government motion.

In the notification the Nepra said that upon a motion submitted by the Ministry of Energy (MoE) to consider surcharge of Rs. 1.52/unit to be recovered in 12 months, in terms of Section 31, sub-section 8 of NIEPRA Act, for recovery of Rs. 24.5 billion from consumers of K-Electric.

The MoE vide email dated 20.09.2023 submitted that the surcharge shall be levied under Section 31(8)(b) of the NEPRA Act i.e. fuffilment of financial obligation of the Federal Government with respect to electric power services.

The Government of Pakistan requested the application of the surcharge in lieu of IMF’s Stand-By Agreement Programme (SBA), to reduce costs in the energy sector and restore efficiency in the sector.

Earlier, the caretaker Minister for Finance Dr Shamshad Akhtar had said that the circular debt of the power and gas sectors has crossed 4 percent of Gross Domestic Product and to bring this down electricity and gas rates have been adjusted accordingly.