ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s main electric power regulator is likely to increase the power tariff by Rs6.1 per unit in March electricity bills, local media reported on Sunday, days after a historic hike in the prices of petroleum products.
The possible hike in power tariff will add to the burden of the masses, who are already reeling from inflationary pressures in Pakistan due to rising food and fuel prices worldwide.
The increase in power tariff will come on the back of fuel price adjustment for the month of January, as the country paid a high price for producing power from furnace oil and diesel, the Dawn newspaper reported.
“In an application, the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) has informed the power sector regulator that the net cost of electricity production was Rs12.61 per unit during the month [of January],” the report read.
“The reference fuel charges set by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) stand at Rs6.51 per unit, or kilowatt hour. The CPPA has sought an increase of Rs6.10 per unit on account of Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) for January.”
NEPRA has summoned a public hearing on the matter on February 28 and invited all concerned entities and citizens to present their points of view on the CPPA demand, according to the report.
The regulator generally accepts the CPPA’s demands regarding fuel price adjustment.
Pakistan earlier this week increased the prices of petrol, high-speed diesel, kerosene and light diesel oil, with petrol going up by a record Rs12.03 per liter.
After the increase of Rs12.03, petrol is now available for Rs159.86 and high-speed diesel at Rs154.15, a rise of Rs9.53.
Kerosene is being sold for Rs126.56 per liter after an increase of Rs10.08, while light diesel oil is available for Rs123.97 after a Rs9.43 hike.
The government has faced criticism for increasing fuel prices during the last few months, but top officials argue the country still offers petroleum products at the cheapest rates in the region.
Pakistan fixes prices of petroleum products on a fortnightly basis to pass on the impact of fluctuating international prices to consumers.
In January, NEPRA jacked up the power tariff by Rs4.30 per unit, allowing distribution companies (DISCOs) to charge consumers an additional fuel cost for their November 2021 bills.
After historic fuel price hike, Pakistan regulator likely to increase power tariff by Rs6.1
https://arab.news/nemw2
After historic fuel price hike, Pakistan regulator likely to increase power tariff by Rs6.1
- Hike in power tariff will come on the back of fuel price adjustment for the month of January
- The country’s power regulator usually accepts demands regarding the fuel price adjustment
Imran Khan’s party shutdown draws mixed response; government calls it ‘ineffective’
- Ex-PM Khan’s PTI party had called for a ‘shutter-down strike’ to protest Feb. 8, 2024 general election results
- While businesses reportedly remained closed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they continued as normal elsewhere
ISLAMABAD: A nationwide “shutter-down strike” called by former prime minister Imran Khan’s party drew a mixed response in Pakistan on Sunday, underscoring political polarization in the country two years after a controversial general election.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PIT) opposition party had urged the masses to shut businesses across the country to protest alleged rigging on the second anniversary of the Feb. 8, 2024 general election.
Local media reported a majority of businesses remained closed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, governed by the PTI, while business continued as normal in other provinces as several trade associations distanced themselves from the strike call.
Arab News visited major markets in Islamabad’s G-6, G-9, I-8 and F-6 sectors, as well as commercial hubs in Rawalpindi, which largely remained operational on Sunday, a public holiday when shops, restaurants and malls typically remain open in Pakistan.
“Pakistan’s constitution says people will elect their representatives. But on 8th February 2024, people were barred from exercising their voting right freely,” Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri, the PTI opposition leader in the Senate, said at a protest march near Islamabad’s iconic Faisal Mosque.
Millions of Pakistanis voted for national and provincial candidates during the Feb. 8, 2024 election, which was marred by a nationwide shutdown of cellphone networks and delayed results, leading to widespread allegations of election manipulation by the PTI and other opposition parties. The caretaker government at the time and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) both rejected the allegations.
Khan’s PTI candidates contested the Feb. 8 elections as independents after the party was barred from the polls. They won the most seats but fell short of the majority needed to form a government, which was made by a smattering of rival political parties led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The government insists the polling was conducted transparently and that Khan’s party was not denied a fair chance.
Authorities in the Pakistani capital deployed a heavy police contingent on the main road leading to the Faisal Mosque on Sunday. Despite police presence and the reported arrest of some PTI workers, Jafri led local PTI members and dozens of supporters who chanted slogans against the government at the march.
“We promise we will never forget 8th February,” Jafri said.
The PTI said its strike call was “successful” and shared videos on official social media accounts showing closed shops and markets in various parts of the country.
The government, however, dismissed the protest as “ineffective.”
“The public is fed up with protest politics and has strongly rejected PTI’s call,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on X.
“It’s Sunday, yet there is still hustle and bustle.”
Ajmal Baloch, All Pakistan Traders Association president, said they neither support such protest calls, nor prevent individuals from closing shops based on personal political affiliation.
“It’s a call from a political party and we do not close businesses on calls of any political party,” Baloch told Arab News.
“We only give calls of strike on issues related to traders.”
Khan was ousted from power in April 2022 after what is widely believed to be a falling out with the country’s powerful generals. The army denies it interferes in politics. Khan has been in prison since August 2023 and faces a slew of legal challenges that ruled him out of the Feb. 8 general elections and which he says are politically motivated to keep him and his party away from power.
In Jan. 2025, an accountability court convicted Khan and his wife in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust land corruption case, sentencing him to 14 years and her to seven years after finding that the trust was used to acquire land and funds in exchange for alleged favors. The couple denies any wrongdoing.
