PM Imran Khan defers ECC decision to raise K-Electric power tariff

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday directed to defer an Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) decision to raise the tariff for K-Electric consumers by Rs 2.79 per unit, ARY NEWS reported citing sources.

The decision was made by the prime minister during a sub-committee meeting of the cabinet on power.

Imran Khan was briefed on the K-Electric matter and was apprised that the power utility was offered to provide additional supply from the national grid. However, it could not be implemented as the K-Electric system could not sustain additional power supply beyond already provided 720 megawatts.

“We have provided K-Electric with 4,500 tons of furnace oil and further offered an additional supply of 500 tons fuel,” the premier was briefed as the meeting discussed options to revisit an agreement between K-Electric and the federal government.

Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the concerned officials to resolve power issues in Karachi on an emergency basis and said that the power utility should be provided additional electricity from the national grid before the K-Electric issues are resolved.

Moreover, the Federal Minister and MQM-P legislator Aminul Haque expressed his gratitude towards the prime minister for deferring the matter of hike in power tariff for Karachi consumers.

It is pertinent to mention here that Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has also ordered accountability watchdog’s Karachi bureau on Thursday to launch an inquiry against K-Electric.

An inquiry should be launched for not elevating the electricity infrastructure in the city on modern lines, the NAB chairman said as he directed the Karachi bureau to acquire a copy of the K-Electric agreement with the government and ascertain if it was implemented or not.