By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved a surcharge of Rs1.52 rupees per unit of electricity for consumers of K-Electric, the country’s largest power distributor, to align its tariff with other state-owned utilities.
The surcharge will be effective from July 1, 2023 and will last for 12 months, according to a government statement. It will apply to all K-Electric consumers, regardless of their tariff category.
The move is in line with the National Electricity Policy 2021, which aims to ensure a uniform consumer-end tariff across the country.
K-Electric, which serves more than 2.5 million customers in Karachi and nearby areas, is partly owned by China’s Shanghai Electric Power Co Ltd.
The ECC, chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, also approved the release of Rs76 billion rupees as payment of arrears to various power sector entities.
The ECC authorised the Power Division to use Rs20.726 billion to pay state-owned power plants for the next five months and to clear any outstanding liabilities by November 2023.
The ECC also approved the release of Rs56 billion to settle dues with the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
In other decisions, the ECC suspended some import conditions for timber/wood until October 31, 2023, following complaints from the industry about difficulties in importing the commodity.
The ECC also amended the import policy to allow government agencies to import pharmaceutical raw material without a license from the drug regulator.
The ECC approved technical supplementary grants worth Rs1.4 billion rupees to various ministries and departments and also released Rs1.2 billion rupees to the disaster management authority for flood relief in Balochistan province.
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