Lahore: In a significant ruling, the Lahore High Court declared the fuel price adjustment imposed in electricity bills as illegal on Monday. The decision, which was reserved on October 10, 2022, was made by Judge Ali Baqar Najafi, who was hearing multiple petitions amounting to 3,659.
According to the verdict, the imposition of fuel price adjustment, quarter tariff adjustment, and change of tariff status from industrial to commercial by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) was deemed illegal as it was not in compliance with Section 3 of the NEPRA Act, 1997. The court also declared the change in tariff to be invalid, as it was made without considering the views of the consumers.
The regulatory body, NEPRA, has been directed to provide consumers with a monthly report of the charges imposed, and the fuel price adjustment should not go beyond seven days, while the quarter tariff adjustment should not exceed the statutory period. The court ordered NEPRA to fix responsibility for the over-charging on the basis of line losses and less efficient power plants, and the financial burden would be shared by the companies in a rational proportion.
Additionally, the federal government has been instructed to offer a maximum subsidy of 500 units per month to domestic consumers and not impose extraordinary taxes that have no connection to energy consumption, which could instead be recovered through other means. The verdict also emphasized that NEPRA should keep in mind that the relationship between the consumer and producer should not be strained by a fiduciary relationship and that increasing prices should not be the means for producing companies to earn huge profits. The imposition of taxes that can be recovered through other means is considered to be economically straining for consumers.
