ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Tuesday submitted the notification for the recent hike in the electricity tariff in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, hours after the apex court ordered authorities to immediately present the notification.
The deputy attorney general submitted the notification, while Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that the court will issue an interim order if the notification is found to be illegal.
Earlier, during the proceedings of electricity load-shedding case, the Chief Justice inquired about the procedure for increasing the electricity tariff.
The Managing Director of Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) informed the apex court that the recent increase was carried out by the government not PEPCO and National Distribution Companies. On this, Justice Jawaad S Khawaja remarked that without approval from NEPRA, the government could not raise prices.
The Chief Justice said that in the international market the prices of petrol and diesel were decreasing while it was the opposite in Pakistan.
The court was further informed that no raise was made in the tariff of those using up to 200 units of electricity.
On Monday, the federal government notified Rs 5.89 per unit increase in electricity tariff for domestic consumers using power from 201 to 300 units. The consumers utilizing electricity up to 200 units would be exempted from this increase.
Under the new tariff, those consuming 201 to 300 units per month will have to pay Rs 5.89 per unit as compared to the current tariff of Rs 8.11 per unit.
In the same way, Rs 3.67 per unit has been increased for the consumers using 301 to 700 units. They have to pay Rs 16 per unit instead of Rs 12.33.
Consumers using 701 and more units per month will pay Rs 2.93 per unit more. For them per unit rate will be Rs 18 instead of Rs 15.01.
