The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has decided, in principle, to exclude nearly 70 per cent of consumers – including places of worship – from the category of ‘lifeline consumers’ and is looking to withdraw the time-of-use tariff facility from commercial offices and cellular service providers.
The regulator has already completed the process of a public hearing on these matters and is expected to notify the decisions within a couple of days, a Nepra official told the media.
Under the existing arrangement, consumers who use up to 5 kilowatts are entitled to the lifeline rate of about Rs2 per unit, if they use less than 50 units per month. Nepra has decided that this facility will now only be available to consumers whose sanctioned load is under one kilowatt.
As a consequence, the regulator has also decided that consumers with a 5-kilowatt load would be charged Rs8.11 per unit if their monthly consumption exceeds 101 units per month. For those using less than 100 units, the monthly charges will be calculated at a rate of Rs5.7 per unit.
