Awaam Pakistan party leader Miftah Ismail has said that he would be filing a petition against K-Electric amid the exorbitant electricity bills in the city.

“The government has increased the per-unit price of electricity, resulting in a 350% rise in electricity rates. How much salaries have increased since 2015,” he said while addressing his party supporters.

“It has become difficult for the public to pay their electricity bills. NEPRA should take measures to stop overbilling, and reduce electricity bills immediately,” Ismail said in his first rally as the new party leader on Sunday.

Earlier this month, the government approved a significant increase in electricity prices, impacting millions of consumers, particularly those in the lower income brackets. The new rates, effective from July, see a per-unit price increase of up to Rs5.72%.

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.

Ismail demanded the government cut its expenses instead of asking for “sacrifices” from the people.

Earlier in a video, Ismail proposed reducing the 46% capacity charges that go to the federal government, lowering taxes on furnace oil and LNG, reducing taxes on four LNG plants owned by the government, and eliminating taxes on fuel used by power plants connected to the grid.

He also called for the government to cut expenses allocated to national and provincial assembly members, which he estimated to be between Rs400 to Rs500 billion, and to reduce the size of the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) by 50 billion rupees.

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Ismail expressed concern that the high electricity bills are causing political instability in Pakistan. He warned that a default on sovereign guarantees to Chinese Independent Power Producers (IPPs) could severely damage the national economy. He criticized the practice of middle-class working people bearing the brunt of electricity theft and line losses.