Lahore
The National Power Construction Corporation (NPCC) has approved a 43 paise per unit reduction in the price of electricity following a sharp rise in electricity prices, which was rejected by consumers as insufficient. Had requested a reduction of 86 paise per unit but the approval has been reduced by only 43 paise.
Consumers say that despite a record drop in oil prices in 2020, the government continued to raise electricity prices, while the Corona virus caused a drop in revenues due to lockdowns, especially the wage earners and workers. Ordinary citizens suffer from diseases such as depression due to imbalances in income and expenditure.
It has been reported that due to clearing of previous arrears, consumers could not get relief of 43 paise more. Officials say that the shortage of LNG has caused a burden of 65.5 million rupees. NEPRA officials say that there was an abundance of LNG but it Lack of operation of well-equipped plants has led to an additional burden of Rs. 149.3 million. Consumers were punished for this incompetence of government agencies in the form of huge increase in electricity prices which continued on a monthly basis till the beginning of this year.
NPCC says that Sui Nadar reduces supply when there is high demand. When demand decreases, Sui Nadar increases supply. The system does not run on an excel sheet. The system has ground realities. Run another plant at 100% capacity.
NEPRA has also decided to repay Rs. 4.47 billion to CPPA. It is also proposed to conduct specialized audit to improve the working of CPPA. Chairman NEPRA said that we do load shedding in the feeders where losses are high. Has written that load shedding should not be done but the government has to do so. A monthly reporting system has been prepared in collaboration with the Ministry on revolving loans. A monthly report on revolving loans is being prepared.
Civil and consumer rights groups say the government has failed to provide relief to the public. The money received from the citizens said that the price of electricity should be reduced by at least Rs 5 per unit.
Consumers suggest that if the government fixes a flat rate of Rs 10 per unit for domestic consumers, not only will electricity theft be eliminated, but the government’s revenue will also increase. A senior LESCO official admitted on condition of anonymity that the theft was only a few percent. Most of the electricity is wasted due to outdated power transmission system and locally repaired transformers by sub-divisions which are stolen, he said, adding that for a city like Lahore, the government should officially repair the transformers. There is only one workshop for.
He said that the concerned line superintendents of the sub-divisions repair the transformers privately as we still have the Electric City Act of 1920 which has been amended to make it new. This also opens the door to bribery because the salaried line superintendent will not repair the transformer if he brings money from home. He said that there was an urgent need to change the rules and bring them in line with modern requirements, to set up new workshops and to provide additional transformers to each division during the summer season.
