Notification of increase in power tariff withdrawn at last

The September 30th notification of the Nawaz government of 40 to 201 percent increase in the electricity tariff for domestic consumers has been withdrawn today. Supreme court of Pakistan had taken a Suo Moto action against this decision of the N government as the increase was tantamount to breaking the backbone of the poor people of Pakistan. The government tried to defend its decision by contending that the increase in power tariff would not target those consumers who use 200 or less units per month. However, the three member tribunal headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudry did not accept this argument and the government was forced to withdraw its notification.

Attorney General Munir A. Malik informed the court today that the Federal government had withdrawn the notification. He contented that the government had set lower electricity tariff than the one originally proposed by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). However, still, the Federal government had withdrawn the notification as per the court’s directives.

On the other hand, the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce (ICCI) praised both Supreme Court for taking up this issue and the government’s decision of withdrawing its notification. The ICCI President Shaban Khan further said that the government must also withdraw its notification of a 74 percent increase in the electricity tariff for industrial, commercial, and bulk consumers. He lamented that electricity was a basic need of industry and such extraordinary price hikes would force industrial units to close their operations. Instead of encouraging industrial growth, which tends to be the backbone of any developed country, the government is extending its maximum efforts to discourage us, he said.