LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has demanded of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to freeze the electricity tariff to keep Pakistani merchandise competitive
According to a statement, the LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that government would have to evolve a mechanism to fix the electricity prices in collaboration with the stakeholders for at least one year so that the consumers could know how much they have to pay and how much input cost they have to bear.
Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that the NEPRA method to raise electricity tariff by issuing a single notification for millions of its consumers is not only unjustified but unethical as well.
“At a time when trade & industry is in deep trouble due to massive power shortage, WAPDA has reportedly moved an application to NEPRA for hike in power tariff”, Ijaz A. Mumtaz said.
He said that there was a time when a businessman calculates Return on Investment keeping in view the two factors including cost of electricity and the cost of raw material but now it is very unfortunate that even local investor has no idea of the prices of the electricity because NEPRA keeps on adding various components in power tariff and that too with retrospective effect.
The LCCI President said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry understands well and is a staunch believer that the economic turnaround would remain and dream unless and until all institutions have the realization of causes that are hitting the economic fabric of the country. He said that at this point in time when the industries is getting a little gas, productions have nose-dived and industrial growth is decreasing, any further increase in the prices of electricity is bound to keep the economy hostage for years to come.
