Power tariffs to go up in Pakistan, Opposition slams Imran Khan
Feb 20, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 20 : Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) President and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif has slammed Imran Khan government over Rs 6 per unit electricity tariff hike, and demanded an immediate reversal of the increase.
Amid Pakistan's dwindling economy, power tariffs in the country are expected to rise up to Rs 6.10 per unit in the upcoming month of April, as per media report.
Last week, on Tuesday, the Pakistan government dropped a "petrol bomb" on the masses by increasing the prices of petroleum products by up to Rs 12.03 per litre.
Shehbaz said raising the already unbearable electricity tariffs was totally unacceptable. Imran Niazi should not invoke wrath of God further as people have been cursing him due to immense financial crisis, he said, reported the News International.
The PMLN president said that the brutal hike in petrol prices had increased the prices of everything exponentially, including flour and sugar. "The increase of Rs4 per litre in the petrol development levy on top of Rs12 per litre was another injustice to people. The government legislates in the interest of the IMF, but makes lame excuses of not having two-thirds majority when it comes to providing relief to people. Imran Niazi only knows how to give relief to his ministers and to his allies, but not to people," he said.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) of Pakistan has been approached by the Power Distribution Companies to allow for the increase, citing that the consumers paid less than the actual cost of power generation in the month of January 2022, reported the News International.
According to the publication, this is the highest-ever demand for an increase in prices and is likely to disturb the household budgets of millions of families. NEPRA has decided to hold a public hearing on the matter on February 28, 2022.
On February 12, NEPRA had increased power tariffs by Rs 3.09 per unit, to be charged in the bill of February, according to a notification released by the authority.
On Friday, Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Ameer Sirajul Haq had termed the Imran Khan led-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government as the worst in the country's history while addressing a public sit-in against the PTI government at Gujranwala according to local media.
On the same day, local media reported, citing party sources that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) chief Shehbaz Sharif has formed a committee to move a no-confidence motion against the PTI government in Punjab province.
