Years ago the Government of Pakistan changed the mechanism of calculating the price of energy for consumers. Even at that time the High Court ordered the Government to explain their pricing formula and it was discovered that the Government was adding surcharges to the consumers bills. The High Court ordered the Government to stop such practices and they promised to manage the price of electricity with the price of furnace oil, as 70% of Pakistan’s energy is produced by furnace oil.
In the current month Government has decided to reduce the rate of petrol, due to a sharp decrease in international oil prices but strangely the price of electricity has not been reduced, in fact the price of electricity has increased and there are plans to further increase the price. In a situation where the Government deceives the consumers by adding surcharges in their bills and where the Government does not follow their own policy of changing prices, with the change in international oil rates, what is the point of using a formula to calculate the energy rate? Why not just reduce the extra work and confusion and simply set the price of energy and forcefully collect the bills from the consumers, which they are already doing!
ENGR. SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEER,
Peshawar, November 6.