The current hike in the electricity tariff though was denounced across the board but the burden is not going to be spread so equally, the brunt of the charge would have to be born by the middle class and those who actually pay their dues.
The hike is caused by the cost per unit exceeding the collections and the reason is not only our inefficient energy mix that relies heavily on imported oil, but also due to the fact that the collections of several IPPs’ are abysmal mainly due to theft and the non-payment of dues by several government departments resulting in losses for entities like HESCO (Electricity distributor to Sindh) and KESC, who have line losses of 40 percent and 35 percent respectively. These losses end up costing the taxpayers (2 percent of the population) millions in subsidies and hikes in prices.
The result of the hike is likely increase theft and the brunt of the increase would be again be borne by the law abiding citizens of the community who diligently pay their dues and the industries who have impeccable recovery rates compared to their domestic counter parts who even pay lower tariffs (an absurdity practiced in no other country).
Due to the hike the decent law abiding citizens and industry would be affected to subsidise the communities that have high line losses and government departments that refuse to pay their dues. The tariff hike is yet another ill thought policy that affects the most productive segments of the community; the law abiding citizens and industry.
I propose rationing rather than the hike, with loadshedding targeted in areas with poor records on recovery and the empowering the IPPs to stop power to government departments that refuse to pay their dues.
M MOHEET-UL-ISLAM
LUMS, Lahore
