Electricity bill relief announced for flood victims

LAHORE: During the intense flood in Punjab, causing damage to the people, Federal Minister for Energy, Owais Leghari, has officially announced an extensive electricity relief package for consumers in flood-affected regions of Pakistan, ARY News reported.

Owais Leghari confirmed that the eligible flood victims could receive up to a 70 percent discount on electricity bills while speaking at the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) headquarters. Extended payment deadlines and waivers of additional charges will also be part of the Electricity bill relief.

The key step aims to release financial pressure on people affected by recent monsoon floods, due to which many people got displaced, and essential infrastructure was disrupted.

Owais Leghari highlighted that already 1.8 crore electricity consumers are having benefits from the relief out of 3.3 crore.

In the electricity bill relief, flood victims will have several benefits, like they will have more time to pay bills without having risk of electricity disconnection. Along with this, those who can’t pay the full bill amount due to financial losses may pay in instalments or receive up to 70% bill reductions.

Traders and shopkeepers in affected areas are considered eligible for relief, in the wake of giving ease to small businesses.

Households using solar systems are getting reduced bills due to net metering reliefs. LESCO staff have donated one day’s salary to the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund.

Owais Leghari mentioned that fixing power outages is taking longer because of the rising floodwaters. He promised that power would be completely restored once the situation gets better.

He mentioned that recent government actions have lowered electricity prices, but new Independent Power Producers (IPPs) have added Rs. 4 per unit through net metering, which is an extra cost the government is trying to reduce.

Also, NEPRA had previously approved a Rs. 1.89 per unit decrease in electricity prices, giving three months of relief to flood victims.

According to the Meteorological Department and PDMA, the flood situation in Pakistan is getting worse. In Multan, more than 300,000 people had to move from Head Muhammad Wala near the Chenab River because of emergency measures.