The direct impact of imposing a surcharge will be in the form of inflation and increased hardship for domestic consumers.
Islamabad: It has been decided to impose an additional surcharge on electricity consumers in the budget for the new fiscal year, which may result in electricity becoming more expensive.
The government yesterday presented the budget for the new upcoming fiscal year 2025-26 in the National Assembly, in which the government is preparing to impose an additional financial burden on electricity consumers.
According to sources, a decision is under consideration to remove the current 10 percent limit on surcharge imposed on electricity bills and give the government the authority to increase bills through an amendment to the NEPRA Act. Under this amendment, the government will be able to increase the surcharge for a specific period and on a case-by-case basis.
In this regard, sources further said that it has been proposed to charge a surcharge of up to Rs 3.23 per unit from electricity consumers, however, no final decision has been taken to increase the surcharge at present.
After this amendment, the government will be able to impose additional surcharge on electricity bills according to the budget or other financial conditions, which is likely to put new inflationary pressure on common consumers.
In the past, the government has been paying the interest on the circular debt through a surcharge on electricity bills. Now, once again, to reduce the burden of circular debt, the government has planned to borrow Rs 1275 billion, which will be obtained from commercial banks and this loan will be repaid over the next 6 years through a surcharge collected from consumers.
Energy experts say that if the NEPRA Act is amended, it could pave the way for a permanent increase in electricity prices, which will directly impact inflation and increase the hardship of domestic consumers.
