Pakistan's Supreme Court for review of power tariff hike

Pakistan's Supreme Court today directed the government to review a steep hike in power tariffs, saying people should not be punished for the wrongdoing of those who steal electricity.
Taking suo moto notice of the hike in tariffs, the apex court gave the government two days to respond.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who headed the bench that heard the matter, said the public should not be punished for the wrongdoings of people who steal electricity.
"Strict investigation should be done against people involved in power theft," he observed.
Power Minister Khwaja Asif said the government is ready to review the notification issued on September 30 to raise tariffs.

The apex court had questioned the government's new energy policy a day after a near 30 per cent increase in power tariffs and 4.2 per cent hike in fuel prices were announced.

The court, while hearing a case on power cuts yesterday, sought copies of two separate notifications announcing the increase in electricity prices.
"If the notifications were issued unlawfully, we will pass an interim order," the Chief Justice said.
The first notification was issued by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority on August 5 and the other by the government on September 30.
The Chief Justice, who has often taken up populist issues like hikes in fuel prices, observed that the government has no right to regulate petroleum prices.

"(Increasing oil prices) is the exclusive domain of regulators who have nothing to do with government policy," said Justice Jawwad Khwaja, another member of the bench.
The new tariffs were announced as the government began implementing structural reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package of USD 6.67 billion, reports said.
Under the reforms plan, the government has agreed to phase out subsidies in the power sector. To achieve this goal, a four-phase plan has been framed to reduce subsidies from about 1.8 per cent of GDP to 0.4 per cent of GDP within the next three years.

In the first phase, the government increased power tariffs for industrial and commercial consumers from August 1.