The article 'Straight Talk KESC Tariff - Where lies the truth? published by The Nation on Sunday June 27, 2010 not only contains gross misstatements but is brimming full of factual inaccuracies. The KESC on its own cannot increase or decrease the consumer tariff until and unless it has been approved and notified by NEPRA which was established by the government as an independent and autonomous regulator of the power sector. The transparent manner in which NEPRA operates is also well known as all its tariff determinations including those pertaining to KESC are publicly available documents on its website. As for KESC, it operates under a Multi Year Tariff (MYT) regime. Under the MYT, a base tariff was established in 2002 through a determination made by NEPRA. Adjustments were then made to the tariff on a quarterly basis to allow variations in fuel and power purchase costs using a reference fuel cost (Kwh). The monthly adjustments on account of fuel cost variations is done in accordance with the monthly adjustment mechanism for KESCs fuel cost and the power purchase cost determined by NEPRA in case No. NEPRA/TRF-133/KESCL-2009(6) dated December 23, 2009, duly notified by the Government of Pakistan (GOP) vide S.R.O. No. 11(I)/2010 dated January 01, 2010. The formula used for calculation of fuel and power purchase variations is clearly defined in the tariff determi-nations of 2002 and 2009, both of which are publicly available documents. Under the tariff mechanism, KESC is allowed monthly adjustments in the fuel cost component for its own generation as well as fuel cost component of power purchase from external sources such as IPPs, WAPDA, etc. due to variation in the fuel prices without taking in to account the effect of T&D losses. The aforesaid variation in cost is has to be passed on to the consumers in their monthly bills as Fuel Surcharge Adjustment (FSA). Thus the writers assertion that The KESC tariff increase allowed by NEPRA to the utility service was unlawful, illegal and sub-judice is illogical, grossly misguiding and against the spirit of the law of our country. -AAMIR ABBASI, Karachi, July 6.