ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday announced a positive round of talks with the leadership of a religio-political party protesting against inflation and high electricity prices in Pakistan, saying the government had constituted a task force to deal with the issues. 

Thousands of supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party have set up a protest camp in Rawalpindi since July 26, highlighting the rising tax burden on the people of Pakistan and demonstrating against the escalating electricity tariffs due to the capacity charges of independent power producers (IPPs) in the country.

These charges refer to the payments made by the government to the IPPs for maintaining the availability of electricity, regardless of how much of it is ultimately consumed.

The capacity charges have become a significant point of contention as they contribute to the circular debt in the energy sector and lead to high electricity tariffs.

“Jamaat-e-Islami’s demand is on our agenda to reduce electricity prices,” Tarar was quoted as saying by the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency. “Our negotiations have been adjourned until tomorrow. Even today, there has been a lot of progress in the negotiations.”

“A task force has been set up to look into the issues of IPPs,” he added.

Tarar said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken measures to reduce power tariffs in the country, including a subsidy of Rs50 billion to electricity consumers using up to 200 units in the months of June, July, and August.

The JI chief, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, told journalists his party would continue its sit-in and take its protest to Lahore, Peshawar, and Multan.

The JI has already started staging a sit-in in Karachi in front of the Sindh Governor House.