Inflated electricity bills: Traders stage sit-in outside NEPRA office

KARACHI: The leaders of the traders associations staged a token sit-in outside the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) office in Karachi’s Bahadurabad area against the inflated electricity bills, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The leaders of the traders associations demanded the NEPRA to stop facilitating K-Electric to charge inflated electricity bills. The token sit-in was addressed by Mehmood Hamid, Atiq Mir, Sharif Memon, Asif Gulfam and others.

The protesting traders said that business owners became bankrupt and the citizens were committing suicide due to financial hardships.

The protestors demanded the government to reduce the prices of petrol and electricity besides imposing a ban on free-of-cost fuel and electricity to the elites. The protestors also demanded the government to stop the VIP protocol of elites to save public funds.

The protesting traders said that they would not tolerate the nexus of NEPRA and K-Electric anymore.

A few days ago, Caretaker Federal Minister for Energy, Power and Petroleum Muhammad Ali announced that the revised electricity tariff would be introduced before October 31.

While addressing a press conference alongside Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, Caretaker Energy Minister Muhammad Ali said the government is taking indiscriminate action against the electricity and gas thieves.

“We are making efforts to control everything. We will try to control the electricity tariff and provide low-cost power to industries from October 31. The inflated bills were received due to electricity theft, whereas, the tariff was hiked due to the increase in USD price.”

The energy minister said that it is impossible to amend the previous agreements, however, the government would find a solution without violating the terms. He vowed that low-cost electricity would be provided to the industries in the winter season.

He admitted that no reduction was made to the prices of solar equipment, however, the government would formulate a strategy to promote solarisation.