ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The Federal Minister for Energy, Sardar Awais Khan Leghari, on Tuesday said that the government is working on the abolition of the formula for additional electricity charges when unit consumption exceeds 200 units.
Addressing the Senate session, Leghari said the government was developing a system to provide electricity relief based on consumers’ financial circumstances rather than consumption alone.
He added that efforts were also underway to raise the existing relief threshold from 200 to 250 units initially for six months.
The government is working fast, and a new policy will be brought very soon.
Leghari said the current formula disproportionately benefited wealthier consumers, while low-income households received less relief.
During the Senate discussion, Senator Abid Sher Ali highlighted the financial burden of electricity bills, particularly on protected consumers.
He questioned why bills could rise sharply when consumption exceeded 200 units and whether consumers were also bearing the cost of electricity theft and losses.
In response, Leghari said electricity tariff slabs needed to be reviewed to address the issue. He said around 20 million consumers used up to 200 units of electricity, adding that many in this category relied on solar energy.
In addition, the minister said the circular debt of the energy sector had been reduced to Rs1,670 billion, with a target to eliminate it over the next four years. He added that the government also planned to abolish the debt servicing surcharge on circular debt.
He said budgetary support for the Ministry of Energy had declined from Rs1,180 billion when the current government took office to Rs700 billion this year.
Leghari further said losses of power distribution companies (DISCOs) had decreased annually, although consumers had yet to benefit directly from the reduction.
