Govt announces relief for power consumers using up to 300 units

• Decision to ease financial burden on households, farmers: minister.
• Govt stopped FCA benefits for 300-unit consumers in 2015.
• Relief withdrawn for agri tube-wells in December 2010.
  

The federal government on Wednesday announced a relief for the electricity consumers using up to 300 units and agricultural tube wells by reinstating the benefits of reduced fuel cost charges.

Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari announced a reduction in monthly fuel adjustment charges for agricultural tube-wells and households consuming up to 300 units of electricity.

The benefit of reduced fuel adjustment charges was initially stopped for consumers using up to 300 units in June 2015, according to a spokesperson of the Power Division.

For agricultural tube-wells, this relief was withdrawn even earlier, in December 2010.

The Power Division has sent a letter to National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), requesting the reinstatement of these adjustments.

By waiving these charges for low-usage consumers and agricultural tube-wells, the government aims to ease the financial burden on farmers and households with limited electricity consumption, Leghari added.

According to the division, this step will further reduce monthly electricity bills for both agricultural tube wells and 300-unit consumers.

Prior to this development, the Power Division revealed the federal government's plan to slash electricity prices by Rs6-8 per unit within the next two months in a bid to provide much-needed relief to consumers.

Federal Secretary Energy (Power Division) Dr Muhammad Fakhr-e-Alam Irfan told the Senate Standing Committee on Power two days ago that the government was working on reducing taxes on electricity bills but noted that any such move would require approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Stressing that the government's ultimate goal was to bring the circular debt to zero as soon as possible, the officials said that authorities were also in talks with a task force overseeing state-owned power plants to streamline operations and further reduce costs.

The high cost of electricity has become a contentious political issue, with opposition parties leveraging public dissatisfaction to criticise the incumbent government’s handling of the energy sector and agreements with independent power producers (IPPs).

The burden of high electricity tariffs falls disproportionately on the middle and lower-income segments of society, fuelling public outrage and eroding trust in the government’s ability to manage the economy.