The interim government has decided in principle to adjust the electricity bills of July in the monthly bills during the upcoming winter season when the bills are lower due to less consumption of electricity. However, the decision will be subject to approval from the International Monetary Fund.
Additionally, the restoration of one-slab benefit for the households is also under consideration, however, the government is afraid of violating the agreement with the IMF, sources said.
The meeting of the caretaker federal cabinet on issue of electricity bills was held Tuesday (today) in which the government once again deliberated steps to give relief to the people in the power bill.
According to the sources, the government cannot reduce the price of electricity due to its agreement with the IMF, but it is ready to collect the bills in installments.
These reliefs were considered in a meeting held in the Ministry of Energy on August 16 and the final decision on them was supposed to be taken on Tuesday.
The biggest concession that has been considered so far is regarding the restoration of a one-slab benefit to electricity consumers with 300 units.
Under the one-slab benefit, the customers were charged the lower rate per unit up to 200 units if the bill came at 210 units and only the remaining 10 units were charged at a higher rate.
However, after the one-slab benefit was slashed under the agreement with the IMF, the authorities now charged the same tariff for all units as soon as the bill crossed 200 units. This is one of the major reasons for the rise in electricity bills.
Domestic consumers will get significant relief from the restoration of the one-slab benefit but may result in a reduction in revenue from the sale of electricity.
According to the sources, a briefing will be given in this regard by the Power Division during the meeting.
