The federal cabinet has approved increasing electricity prices for commercial, agricultural, and large consumers while retaining the basic tariff for industrial consumers, sources said on Thursday.

The Power Division has informed the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) of the cabinet’s decision.

The cabinet has approved an increase of Rs8.04 in the basic price of electricity for commercial consumers. From July, the per-unit rate for commercial consumers would reach Rs77.15.

For agricultural consumers, the basic tariff has been increased by Rs6.62 per unit. From July, the per-unit tariff for agricultural consumers will be Rs46.83. The industrial consumers’ basic tariff remains unchanged while the Power Division has informed Nepra of the federal cabinet’s decision.

The government has approved an increase of Rs6.98 per unit in the electricity tariff for general services. As a result, the per unit tariff for general services would reach Rs61.03 from July onwards.

Additionally, the government has approved an increase of Rs5.51 per unit in the electricity tariff for non-protected consumers. Consequently, the per unit tariff for them would reach Rs59.96 from July.

The authorities have also approved maintaining the basic tariff for industrial consumers.

Earlier this week, Nepra notified the Rs3.33 per unit hike in the fuel cost adjustment charges for May. “The above adjustment of Rs.3.3287/kWh shall be applicable to all the consumer categories except Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) and lifeline consumers,” Nepra said in a notification.

As many as 32.5 million consumers would pay an additional amount of at least Rs580 billion in this fiscal year which is over and above the existing cost of electricity. Many believe such an increase in tariff was due to the mismanagement and wrong energy policies of the past three decades.

The electric shock comes a day after the government approved up to 51% or Rs7.12 increase in the per-unit price of electricity from July.

According to the power division, the average electricity price has increased by Rs4.55 per unit, pushing the national average uniform rate from Rs29 to Rs35.50 per unit. This translates to a significant price hike for consumers across the board.

Amidst this, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the government would provide relief to people consuming less than 200 units of electricity for the next three months.