- More than 40 million users can obtain billing aid.
- The costs have generated nearly 16 billion rupees per year for PTV.
- PM expected to make an announcement soon.
Islamabad: In a decision that should offer relief to millions of electricity users, the federal government is about to remove the monthly television costs from Pakistan (PTV) RS35 currently invoiced through electricity bills, The news reported.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should soon make an official announcement, ending a long -standing tax that affects more than 40 million residential, commercial and industrial energy consumers across the country.
The fees, a long source of public dissatisfaction, generated approximately 1.5 billion rupees per month – nearly 16 billion rupees per year – for the state -managed broadcaster through automatic deductions from public service bills.
This step aims to reduce the financial burden of the ordinary man and to offer real relief in electricity bills, said a high official familiar with the case.
Earlier this week, in an important decision that could alleviate the pressure of electricity prices, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) reduced the purchase price of national average energy (PPP) to RS25.98 per unit for the financial year 2025-26 – down 3.77% (or RS1.02 / unit) of RS27 / unit in progress.
According to the latest determination of the NEPRA, the total purchase price of national energy was set at 3.342 rumbox billions for exercise 26. For former WAPDA distribution companies (XWDISCOS), the PPP is RS3.066 Billion or RS26.34 per unit.
The calculation excludes the part of K-Electric. The NEPRA decision opens the ground for downstream pricing decisions at the end of the consumer in the coming months.
From the total PPP projected for Xwdiscos, RS1.125 Billion is allocated to variable fuel and operating and management costs (O&M), while RS1.941 Billion – or 63% – capacity costs are reserved for capacity costs, including NTDC, Pak Matiari -Lahore Company Transmission (PVT). The capacity costs alone are estimated at RS6.484 / unit / month, on the basis of a maximum monthly request indicator (MDI) of 24,943 MW.
In unit, energy costs for Xwdiscos are calculated at RS9.67 / Unit, while capacity charges represent RS16.67 / Unit, which leads to a total of RS26.34 / Unit before transmission and distribution losses (T&D).
The new PPP is RS1.02 / unit lower than the RS27 / unit Average of the RS27 of the current tax authorities, when the total cost of purchase of electricity amounted to 3.534 billions of rupees.
The Central Power Purchase Agency (CPPA-G), in its petition at NEPRA, described seven PPP scenarios for exercise 26 on the basis of variable demand for demand for demand (3 to 5%), exchange rate (RS280–300 / USD) and hydrological flows.
The fuel charges proposed range from RS8.16 / unit to RS9.19 / Unit, while capacity payments in different scenarios are projected between RS16.04 / Unit and RS16.45 / Unit – Pursuing the trend where capacity costs dominate the cost of energy purchase.
In comparison, for exercise 24, the capacity charges rose to RS16.22 / unit while the energy charges were only RS6.73 / unit. The total PPP for 2023-24 was RS22.95 / unit, highlighting a continuous rise in fixed energy costs.