THE National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) recently approved a multi-year tariff (MYT) for K-Electric (KE).

This has reignited public outrage, and rightly so. The decision to permit KE to extract unjustified and excessive charges from Karachi`s already overburdened population is not just misguided; it is a glaring indictment of regulatory complicity and institutional failure.

This approval, spanning from 2023-24 to 2029-30 fiscal, entrenches corporate profiteering while making millions of citizens pay the price for KE`s inefficiencies and past blunders. The new MYT permits KE to charge nearly Rs40 per unit, a rate far higher than other distribution companies (Discos), Most Discos average Rs28 to Rs33 per unit. The disparity is alarming and unjustifiable. Instead of applying uniform regulatory scrutiny, Nepra has awarded KE a free pass, bypassing rational economic checks and ignoringbroader publicinterests.

In a shocking display of bias, Nepra has reportedly allowed KE to recover Rs453 billion via six post-MYT interventions, Rs287 billion through inflated fuel cost benchmarks, Rs99 billion under the dubious excuse of law and order maintenance, and Rs83 billion for idle capacity payments. This systematic favouritism amounts to a regulatory betrayal of Karachi`s people.

Even more outrageous is the provision for KE to pass on losses from inefficiencies, electricity theft, and system leakages to the consumers, penalising them for crimes and failures they never committed. Ironically, compliant and paying consumers are being made to bear the brunt of KE`s failures, as Nepra has allowed it to build losses and inefficiencies into its tariffs.

This is not merely a fiscal matter; it is a question of public safety and ethics. KE has routinely used non-compliant, substandard materials within its transmission infrastructure.The consequenceshave beenfatalas electrocutionincidents during the monsoon season are commonin Karachi. Why is KE not held accountable for electrocution deaths,infrastructure decay, and technical faults? Why does Nepra, the supposed consumer watchdog, allow tariff hikes despite such grievous violations? Even when Nepra`s own reports admitted KE`s overbilling in the April-June 2024 quarter, no penal action was taken.

The federal government`s subsequent challenge to Nepra`s MYT approval, though welcomed, came too late and appeared more like damage control than genuine concern. Had there been real accountability, KE and Nepra officials would have been facing legal scrutiny by now.

KE`s chronic failure and Nepra`s enabling silence should no longer be tolerated.

If Nepra continues to function as KE`s partner-in-profit rather than a peoplefirst regulator, it risks irreparably damaging what little trust remains in Pakistan`s regulatory institutions.

Majid Burfat Karachi