Govt must cancel capacity charges deals with IPPs: Mustafa Kamal

ISLAMABAD: MQM-Pakistan’s leader Mustafa Kamal has demanded of government to cancel the capacity charges agreement with local independent power producers (IPPs), ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Mustafa Kamal was talking with media here after visiting the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) office.

He said the situation has reached to the extreme where a brother kills another over the electricity bill payment.

“I plead to the prime minister that 70 percent IPPs have been locally owned. Talk to them over the mistaken policy. You have earned thousands of billions and now we could not pay more,” MQM leader said.

He said, remaining 30 percent IPPs belong to our friend countries, ” the prime minister should talk to them over the one-point agenda to seek the solution”.

Mustafa Kamal said he has talked with the NEPRA to fix the K-Electric tariff. The regulator must bound the company, not to close a feeder over non-payment, he said. “The shutdown of a feeder over non-payment suspends power supply to every consumer,” he said.

He said the power supply system in Pakistan could not be corrected until more than one companies operating in the field. “There are more than one companies across the world and until the monopoly will not end, a common consumer could not get relief,” he said.

The NEPRA has informed that the framework has been prepared and the law passed to grant license to more than one companies in market. NEPRA has said that the issue will be resolved by October with more than one companies in the field.