IMF Bailout Delays lead to Electricity Tariff Hikes

To revive the IMF loan program, the federal govt has decided to collect 76 billion as a surcharge to meet IMF conditions and 52 billion due to deferred payments. So, the electricity consumers will bear a burden of Rs128 billion.

Power customers will pay an additional surcharge of Rs3.39 per unit as a result of a decision taken by the National Regulatory Power Authority (Nepra) and approved by the Ministry of power. This additional amount will be applied to bills from March to June. Customers currently pay a surcharge of 43 paisas per unit. The surcharge will also apply to K-Electric & LESCO customers .

In addition, Nepra has issued a notification stating that consumers will have pay Rs14.24 per unit over eight months due to deferred payments, with K-Electric customers bearing the burden of Rs9.90 per unit. Consumers who use up to 200 units of electricity will pay from 89 paisas to Rs2, while those who use up to 300 units will be charged from 89 paisas to Rs2.75 per unit.

Nepra has also increased the cost of electricity for Karachi consumers by Rs71 paisas per unit and 48 paisas per unit for the rest of the country under fuel adjustment charges for January, with additional charges collected in the March bills.