Power tariff, POL products price hike never acceptable: JI city chief

The Jamaat-e-Islami’s Karachi chief has rejected the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s proposal to the government for increasing the K-Electric’s tariff by Rs1.95 a unit and the petroleum products’ prices by Rs16 a litre on the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority’s (Ogra) request.

Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said that the continual fortnightly quintuple increase in the power tariff will augment the already economic depressed people, and that this act will put immense

financial burden on the poor consumers.

Rehman said that instead of providing relief to the masses, the government seems determined to nourish KE and Ogra more and more at the expense of the people.

He said that the petroleum products’ prices have been increased by Rs16.37 since December 2020, and that with the annexation of the inflation rate, the government has dragged the people down under an enormous economic burden.

He added that government subsidies and other economic benefits to KE have been increasing day by day, while the power utility’s performance as regards supplying electricity to its consumers is not a secret.

He pointed out that ignoring the terms agreed upon at the time of its privatisation, KE never bothered to revamp its power generation, distribution and billing systems.

He also pointed out that the consumers are left on the mercy of the power utility, which is forcing the people to face long hours of load-shedding, issuing inflated bills and increasing the power tariff.

“This manifestation has exposed the dictatorial terms of the International Monetary Fund and other international donors, but our government is unmoved on this issue,” he lamented.

Moreover, said Rehman, industrial, commercial and domestic natural gas consumers have been facing low gas pressure and gas load-shedding, which shows the inability of the government on all economic fronts. He warned that the masses will never tolerate such tactics of the government, and that the JI is with them.