Nepra officials jack up their pay by 220%, bypassing govt’s approval

ISLAMABAD: In a shocking abuse of power, the chairman and members of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) have generously awarded themselves a whopping 220% pay raise without approval from the relevant authorities, including the federal cabinet, sources told Geo News.

According to Nepra sources, the salary hike, ranging from Rs2 million to Rs2.2 million, was made without following the mandatory protocol. Sources disclosed that in some cases six-figure salaries were raised to seven digits without obtaining the required approval from the federal cabinet, increasing them under the headings of ad-hoc relief and regulatory allowance.

According to an October 2023 revised notification, the total salary, including all benefits, has now reached up to Rs1 million. The biggest increase, however, went to the Nepra chairman’s already hefty salary, which has now topped a staggering Rs3.2 million, while remunerations of the four members have been boosted to Rs2.9 million.

Speaking to Geo News, former Nepra chairman, Taufeeq H Farooqi, revealed that his monthly salary, including everything — allowances, perks, privileges — was Rs790,000. Stating that only the federal cabinet was authorised to approve an increase in the salaries of top Nepra officials, Farooqui, who served as chairman of the regulator until August 2023, told Geo News that the members’ salaries were around Rs740,000 during his tenure.

It must be noted that the salary, perks, and benefits for the chairperson and members of Nepra are defined in Section 8 of the Nepra Act, 1997. The law states that these top officials will receive a salary and allowances that the authority, with the federal government’s approval, determines, which in the case at hand were decided without the government’s approval.

The act also says that the salaries should reflect the specialised nature of their work and be competitive with private sector pay. Most Nepra chairpersons and members are retired government officials, whose last salaries before retirement were between Rs600,000 to Rs700,000. Currently, the Nepra chairperson and two members from KP and Balochistan are retired bureaucrats, according to sources.