The federal government has provided an alternate plan to ease the burden of electricity bills on the public to the International Monetary Fund, sources said on Tuesday.

The government has now proposed that Rs15 billion set aside for payments to Independent Power Producers will be used to give relied in electricity bills.

When the amount is collected in installments from consumers, it will be repaid to the IPPs.

As part of the new plan, the IMF has also been given an assurance that no relief will be given outside the budget.

Sources had said that the government’s initial plan had been rejected by the IMF. Reports said that the money lender had expressed concerns over a gap of Rs15 billion that would emerge in the government’s revenue as a result.

Sources told Aaj News that the government has estimated that the relief on the consumers’ bills would have an impact of less than Rs6.5 billion on the revenue collection. However, the IMF rejected the plan based on a higher estimate.

The government is caught between a rock and a hard place, as protests against inflated electricity bills continue while it has no mandate to take significant policy decisions since it is an interim setup.