Islamabad: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has slammed the 48 paisa per unit hike in the average electricity tariff by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) for ex-WAPDA distribution companies (Discos) for the year 2015-16 and termed it an unwise decision as it would further enhance the cost of doing business and hurt Pakistan’s exports.
Khalid Iqbal Malik, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the power tariffs in Pakistan for industrial and commercial consumers were already highest in the region due to which our exports have become uncompetitive in the international market. He said in this scenario, allowing Discos to recover Rs.24.34 billion from power consumers on account of the write-off of unrecovered amounts from chronic defaulters was totally unjustified.
He said that NEPRA has resorted to easy approach of passing on the burden of defaulters to the general consumers which was an illogical decision. He said NEPRA was making regular bill-payers to pay for those who have used the electricity, but were not paying for it. He said this practice would encourage further defaults and would create disappointment in regular bill payers. He said the trend of write-offs would also reinforce the rampant inefficiencies within the system and put an upfront burden on consumers.
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