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The federal government announced on Tuesday that the basic electricity tariff would be raised by Rs3.50 per unit to Rs20.41 with effect immediately.

The government will raise the base electricity tariff by Rs7.91 per unit from the national average of Rs16.91 per unit to Rs24.82 per kWh in order to recover an additional Rs893.83 billion from customers during the current fiscal year 2022-23.

The government introduced the first phase of a Rs3.50 per unit increase in base tariff on Tuesday, with effect from July 26, 2022.

In the second phase, the government will raise the base electricity tariff by Rs3.50 beginning in August and by 91 paisas beginning in October.
In reaction to a motion filed by the federal govt, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority recently permitted charging a uniform tariff of Rs7.91 per unit from end users of all power distribution firms and K-Electric for the fiscal year 2022-23.

During a joint news conference on Tuesday, Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir as well as Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik revealed the increase in electricity tariff.

The power minister stated that the increase in electricity rates had been approved by the cabinet.

He did, however, claim that the government had sheltered the poor by not raising electricity rates for users consuming one to 50 units per month.

"There will also be no tariff increase for customers who use 200 units per month." Dastgir stated that energy prices would begin to fall in November and that by December, the basic electricity prices would be Rs24 per unit.

"A large portion of the increase in bills will be due to fuel surcharges, and there will be no rise due to fuel alteration due to higher power base tariff," the minister said.

Previously, the government raised electricity rates in February.

Dastgir stated that the federal cabinet had made critical decisions concerning electricity rates. The minister stated that the country"s industrial feeders will be supplied with uninterrupted power, and that five main export-oriented sectors will be provided with low-cost gas and electricity.

He stated that the decision was made to benefit from exports and that Pakistan"s export sector was fully prepared for competition. According to him, Tarbela Dam"s electricity production increased to 4,500 megawatts in June.

The minister revealed that while coal and gas were not currently available on the global market, gas was available from friendly nations.
"Efforts are being made to enhance power supply and ensure its availability," he said, adding that the coming months would be challenging due to an increase in electricity rates. Dastgir asserted that circular debt had been reduced by Rs214 billion.

According to the minister, the amount of unpaid debts to the Power Division currently stands at Rs1,000 billion. "When the PML-N government left office in 2018, the rehabilitation of these bills stood at Rs300 billion." These bills have now increased sevenfold."

Dastgir stated that a new law was being drafted that would increase transparency in commercial transactions among governments. "Many friendly countries are interested in investing in Pakistan."

He added that there had been delays in privatisation, but that the draught law on privatisation for financing in Pakistan would soon be submitted to the assembly for approval.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the election of the chairman of the Privatisation Commission on Tuesday. Through a notification, Abid Hussain Bhayo, the federal minister for privatisation, has been delegated with the charge.

Addressing the media, the minister of state for petroleum stated that the incumbent government"s efforts provide the relief to the masses from soaring inflation would begin to bear fruit in November of this year.

Malik attempted to shift the blame for all the ills back to the previous government, claiming that if it had raised electricity production prices, which it had not done since February 2021, "we wouldn"t have been facing such difficulties."

"These electricity prices will have no effect on 45 percent of Pakistan"s population," Malik asserted, adding that roughly 13 million people were in the "protected" bracket.