The government has requested the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to raise K-Electric’s consumer tariff by up to Rs6.02 per unit under two previous quarterly adjustments and permit its recovery from consumers between April and June, ensuring a uniform national tariff.
The government has already notified an equivalent increase in tariff for ex-Wapda Disco’s consumers. As a formality, Nepra will conduct a public hearing on April 3 to discuss the increase in the KE tariff.
The Power Division has requested a tariff increase of Rs3.03 per unit for up to 200 units of domestic consumption during April and May and Rs1.55 per unit in June. For monthly consumption between 201 and 700 units, rates will rise by Rs4.76 per unit in April and May and by Rs1.55 per unit in June 2023.
All other categories will see a tariff increase of Rs6.02 per unit over the three months.
The Power Division filed two separate motions with Nepra, requesting an application of up to Rs4.45 per unit for the first quarter of FY23 (July to September) and Rs1.55 per unit for the second quarter of FY22 (October to December) for KE consumers.
The average increase for KE consumers in the first quarter of FY23 is Rs3.21 per unit and Rs1.55 per unit for the second quarter of FY22. Therefore, the Power Division has asked Nepra to issue separate tariff schedules for these two quarters to ensure recoveries before the end of the current fiscal year, in line with budgetary subsidies.
Nepra had already allowed a hike of up to Rs4.45 per unit in power tariff, enabling ex-Wapda Discos to transfer an additional burden of Rs42 billion to electricity consumers for the first quarter of FY23 adjustment.
The regulator instructed Discos to ensure the additional burden is transferred during February and March, with an average impact of Rs3.30 per unit on consumers, ranging between Rs1.4874 per unit and Rs4.45 per unit for various consumer categories.
The government informed Nepra that under the National Electricity Policy 2021, it could maintain a uniform consumer-end tariff for K-Electric and state-owned distribution companies (even after privatization) through direct/indirect subsidies. Consequently, KE’s applicable uniform variable charge must be modified to recover the power utility’s revenue requirements, determined by the regulator consistent with the uniform national tariff of Discos, already approved by the federal cabinet.
