Fixed charges of Rs200-1,000 on domestic electric consumers

Islamabad: Monthly fixed charges of Rs200-1,000 have been imposed on consumers, while the fixed charges on commercial consumers have been increased by 300 percent and on industrial use by 355 percent.

According to the details, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has introduced new electricity tariffs which will be applicable from July 1. Five monthly charges of Rs200-1000 are fixed in the electricity bills of residential consumers depending on the monthly units consumed. And the same has been increased to 300 percent for commercial and 355 percent for industrial customers.

This will help Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to increase their revenue through fixed charges. Domestic consumers using 301-400 units per month will pay fixed charges of Rs200 per month from July 1, 2024 and those using 401-500 units will pay Rs400. The consumers using 501-600 units will have to pay Rs600.

Residential users using 601-700 units will pay Rs800 per month and those using more than 700 units will pay fixed charges of Rs1,000 per month.

The customers using TOU (Time of Use) meters will also pay fixed charges of Rs1,000 per month.

Commercial consumers with a load of less than 5KW will also pay fixed charges of Rs1,000 per month. However, commercial consumers of electricity with a load of 5KW or more will now pay Rs2,000 increasing from the current Rs500, which has been increased by 300 percent.

Under TOU metering, industrial consumers falling under B1 category consuming up to 25KW will pay Rs1,000 but B2 category consumers will see a 300 percent increase in fixed charges up to 500KW as they will now pay Rs2,000 instead of fixed charges of Rs500 per month.

B3 category industrial consumers consuming 5,000KW will pay fixed charges of Rs2,000 with a 335 percent increase from Rs460 per month. All load users in the B4 category will also experience a 355 percent increase in fixed charges as they will now pay Rs 2,000 per month from the current Rs440.

At present the total cost of a power unit consists of 72 percent fixed charges and 28 percent variable charges. Still, on the revenue side, fixed charges are only two percent and variable charges are 98 percent. Officials said that the authorities concerned have found a mismatch between the cost and revenue structure in the electricity tariff.