National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has postponed the hearing on K-Electric’s April Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) request after objections raised by the Power Division.
K-Electric had requested a reduction of Rs 4.79 per unit in the FCA, which, if approved, would have provided a relief of Rs 7 billion to Karachi’s electricity consumers.
The hearing, chaired by NEPRA Chairman Waseem Mukhtar, was interrupted at the very beginning when the Power Division argued that a review petition regarding K-Electric is already pending. They urged NEPRA to postpone the current proceedings until the pending petition is resolved.
Power Division officials warned that granting this relief would disrupt the uniform tariff structure. They further emphasized that the government has already provided Rs 21 billion in fuel charge subsidies and that further tariff adjustments could compromise Pakistan’s commitments under the IMF program.
Chairman NEPRA raised tough questions regarding the Power Division’s timing and arguments, noting that FCA hearings are public and this was not the appropriate stage to raise such concerns.
Following the exchange, NEPRA decided to defer the hearing until next week.
