ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has directed all government-owned power distribution companies and K-Electric to refund consumers Re0.4812 per unit in their November bills after discovering overcharges in September’s Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA), as per the report.
The refund will apply to all users except lifeline, protected, EV charging, and prepaid consumers. Nepra stated that the overbilling resulted from differences between actual and billed fuel costs.
The adjustment follows a federal Cabinet decision approved on August 29, which standardized FCA rates for all utilities, including K-Electric, with any deficit to be covered through subsidies or cross-subsidies.
However, Nepra’s Member (Technical) Rafique Ahmad Shaikh issued a dissenting note, accusing the authority of allowing inefficiencies to burden consumers and weakening sector accountability.
He pointed out inefficiencies such as the underperformance of the Guddu 747MW plant, Rs2.5 billion in part-load costs, Rs302 million in system losses, and an HVDC line running at just 41% capacity, all of which, he said, raise tariffs unfairly.
Shaikh also criticized the dispatch of the Kapco plant against the Economic Merit Order, adding Rs9 million in extra costs, and highlighted losses from idle projects like Neelum Jhelum.
In a separate note, he condemned transferring NTDC’s inefficiency costs to consumers as “regulatory leniency,” noting that transmission issues have cost Rs126 billion since 2019 despite Rs570 billion already spent from consumer funds.