ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has ordered all state-run distribution companies and K-Electric to refund consumers Re0.4812 per unit on their November electricity bills, The News reported.
A notification was issued after determining that consumers were overcharged in September under the monthly Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA).
The refund applies to all categories except lifeline, protected, electric-vehicle charging and prepaid consumers, with Nepra saying the overbilling stemmed from discrepancies between actual and charged fuel costs.
The adjustment will be implemented nationwide in line with a federal Cabinet decision ratified on August 29, which unified FCAs for all utilities, including K-Electric. Any shortfall will be met through subsidies or cross-subsidies.
However, Nepra’s Member (Technical) Rafique Ahmad Shaikh issued a sharply worded dissenting note attached to the decision, accusing the authority of allowing inefficiencies to be passed on to consumers and undermining accountability in the power sector.
He warned that running the Guddu 747MW plant inefficiently, part-load charges of Rs2.5 billion, and Rs302 million in system losses, along with an underused HVDC line operating at 41%, continue to inflate consumer tariffs.
He criticised the dispatch of the Kapco plant in violation of the Economic Merit Order, adding Rs9 million to consumer costs, and said idle plants like Neelum Jhelum continue to cause major financial losses that should never be passed on to consumers.
In a separate dissent, he condemned shifting NTDC’s inefficiency costs to consumers as “regulatory leniency,” noting that transmission flaws have cost about Rs126 billion since 2019 despite Rs570 billion in consumer-funded investments.