ECC approves Rs1.52/unit surcharge for K-Electric consumers

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet on Wednesday approved Rs1,914.83 million technical supplementary grants for various ministries and divisions.

The cabinet committee meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar and approved several summaries.

Ministry of Energy (Power Division) submitted a summary regarding Quarterly Tariff Adjustments of K-Electric and informed that as per National Electricity Policy 2021, the government may maintain a uniform consumer-end tariff for K-Electric and state owned distribution companies. Accordingly, KE applicable uniform variable charge is required to be modified to maintain the uniform tariff across the country.

The ECC approved a surcharge of Rs.1.52/unit to be recovered from K-Electric consumers in 12 months. The ECC further allowed release and utilization of available budget of Rs. 76 billion as payment of arrears under different heads.

The ECC considered another summary of Ministry of Energy (Power Division) regarding implementation of revised circular debt management plan and utilization of Rs20.726 billion to government owned power plants.

The committee after discussion authorized Power Division to utilize one-time full amount out of assignment account in relaxation of limit of using Rs4 billion per month during June 2023 for the next five months and to ensure that there will be no more payment liability to IPPs for the period July 2023 to Nov, 2023.

The ECC also considered and approved another summary of Power Division regarding release of Rs. 56 billion as approved under revised CDMP against the AJ&K receivables.

The ECC suspended Import conditions contained in Import Policy Order 2022 related to import of Timber/Wood from the date of issuance to 31 October, 2023. It directed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to review the import policy and come up with suggestions to settle this issue.

The ECC also approved another summary of Ministry of Commerce regarding amendment in relevant clause in the Import Policy Order 2022 to allow government agencies to import pharmaceutical raw material.