ECC approves Rs1.52/unit surcharge on KE consumers

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved slapping a surcharge of Rs1.52/unit to be recovered from K-Electric consumers in 12 months.

The ECC, under the Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, granted the approval for a surcharge of Rs1.52/unit to be recovered in 12 months, in terms of Section 31 Sub-section 8 of the Nepra Act, for recovery of Rs24.5 billion and the remaining amount of Rs250.7 billion may be approved as a tariff differential subsidy.

The ECC considered another summary of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) for implementation of a revised circular debt management plan and utilization of Rs20.726 billion to government-owned power plants.

After discussion, the ECC authorized the Power Division to utilize a one-time full amount out of the assignment account in relaxation of the limit of using Rs4 billion per month during June 2023 for the next five months and to ensure that there will be no more payment liability to IPPs for the period July 2023 to Nov 2023.

The ECC also approved another summary of the Power Division for the release of Rs56 billion as approved under revised CDMP against the AJ&K receivables.

According to an official announcement made by the Ministry of Finance after the ECC meeting, the Ministry of Commerce has submitted a summary on suspension of import conditions contained in Import Policy Order 2022 related to the import of timber/wood and briefed the meeting on the concerns of the wood/timber industry. After detailed discussions, the ECC suspended the relevant import conditions from the date of issuance of IPO 2022 to 31st October 2023 with direction to the MoNFS&R to review the import policy and come up with suggestions to settle this issue.

The ECC also considered and approved another summary of the Ministry of Commerce on amendment in the relevant clause in the Import Policy Order 2022 to allow government agencies to import pharmaceutical raw materials.

The Ministry of Energy (Power Division) submitted a summary regarding the Quarterly Tariff Adjustments of K-Electric and informed that as per National Electricity Policy 2021, the government may maintain a uniform consumer-end tariff for K-Electric and state-owned distribution companies.

Accordingly, KE’s applicable uniform variable charge is required to be modified to maintain the uniform tariff across the country. The ECC after discussion approved a surcharge of Rs1.52/unit to be recovered from K-Electric consumers in 12 months. The ECC further allowed the release and utilization of the available budget of Rs76 billion as payment of arrears under different heads.