NEPRA chairman defends hike in electricity tariff

ISLAMABAD: Defending the increasing electricity tariff, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) chairman Tauseef H. Farooqui on Wednesday said fuel cost has increased by eight times as compared to three years earlier, ARY News reported. 

In his statement, the NEPRA chairman said the cost of imported coal in 2018 was $50 per ton, which has reached $400 now. He further said the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar is another factor in increasing fuel tariffs in the country.

The cost of producing electricity has increased by 1600pc, Tauseef said and asked if not the consumers, then who will pay the price?

The NEPRA chairman said, all of their assumptions went wrong and the dollar has crossed Rs222 mark. NEPRA has no authority to control fuel prices at the international level and the greenback.

Read more: NEPRA hears govt plea for Rs 7.91 hike in basic power tariff

Earlier in the day, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) hearing the federal government’s petition seeking Rs 7.91 per unit hike in basic power tariff.

The electric power regulator will decide on the matter after the hearing and forward its decision to the government for notification.

The NEPRA hearing presided over by its chairman Tauseef Farooqui will take decision over the government plea for hike in basic tariff of all power distribution companies including the K-electric, the power utility, which supply electricity to Karachi.