The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has raised the power tariff by Rs5.40 per unit in terms of quarterly adjustment.
The authority has said that it not possible to provide relief to the consumers in the existing structure of electricity distribution companies.
However, the new tariff will not be applicable to lifeline and K-Electric consumers.
NEPRA had conducted a hearing on an application by distribution companies to increase the tariff by Rs5 per unit.
The application was submitted for the fourth quarter adjustment of 2022-23. FESCO had asked for an increase of Rs23.49 billion, GEPCO Rs16.13 billion, while HESCO and IESCO had sought a raise of Rs9 billion each.
LESCO had sought to increase the burden on consumers by more than Rs31 billion and MEPCO Rs27 billion, PESCO Rs9 billion, QESCO Rs7 billion, SEPCO Rs5 billion and TESCO asked for an increase of Rs4 billion.
The NEPRA case office said this increase will be recovered in September, October and November, adding that an additional burden of Rs5.40 will be imposed on consumers.
The DISCOs maintained in their application that the revenue has been affected due to the fall in demand for the industry. LESCO faced a shortfall of three billion units of electricity due to climate change and industry shutdowns.
LESCO said the demand for electricity was 1,000 megawatts less than last year. For HESCO also, the capacity charges increased owing to industry shutdowns and falling demand.
Currently, 350,000 connections are pending with DISCOS, the companies said. Owing to the decrease in demand and recovery, surcharges of Rs7.91 were imposed, said the Central Power Purchasing Agency.
