PESHAWAR: A senior lawyer, Fazal Shah Mohmand , said that despite being declared ‘illegal’ by the Peshawar high court in 2012, WAPDA and the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) are ‘fleecing’ billions of rupees every month in term of Fuel Price Adjustment (FPA) in electricity bills
Senior lawyer of Supreme Court Fazal Shah Mohmand said that in 2012, PHC bench headed by the then Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan had declared FPA illegal and had restrained the authorities from its recovery from consumers. Mohmand said that the no one had challenged the judgment in the Supreme Court so WAPDA, NEPRA and other officials can be punished for contempt of court.
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Mohmand told Mashriq that under the judgment, the government has to refund the money ‘extorted’ from the public during the past nine years.
On 29 December, even the chairman of the chairman of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) expressed concern over the costly power generation and the recovery of its cost from the public in term of Fuel Price Adjustment.
NEPRA Chairman Tauseef Farooqi held a hearing on the request of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) and the National Power Construction Corporation (NPCC) to increase the price of electricity by Rs4.33 per unit in the November fuel price adjustment.
The Chairman of NEPRA was informed by the petitioners that the cost of production of electricity has increased due to the high fuel cost. The meeting was informed that as per the request of CPPA, the consumers will face an additional burden. On the occasion, Chairman NEPRA also expressed frustration over CPPA and NPCC for costly power generation.
The electricity consumers have staged protests across the province after receiving hefty bills due to the addition of Fuel Price Adjustment fund. The consumers said that there bills were 20 times higher than the actual their original bills.