ISLAMABAD: The Nati­onal Electric Power Regu­latory Authority (Nepra) has come under criticism from within and outside for charging hefty fees to consumers for appeals and reviews of regulatory decisions.

This emerged after a strong dissenting note from Nepra Member (Tariff) representing Baloc­histan Mathar Niaz Rana for disallowing on technical grounds a review application from Karachi-based industrial consumers Muhammad Arif Bilwani against weaknesses in the matter of K-Electric’s power generation tariff.

The regulatory order issued on April 10 noted that Mr Bilwani was not a party in the matter of KE’s power generation tariff and did not pay about Rs1 million fee but paid only Rs1,000 as a common consumer and hence did not qualify to be entertained by the regulator.

However, Mr Rana, in his dissenting note, reminded the regulator that Nepra had allowed similar requests and almost on similar grounds in the past, including to the federal government.

He said the Nepra Act, to safeguard consumer interests through transparency and........

© Dawn Business