ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Tuesday ordered a performance audit of Pakistan’s power sector regulator and referred its unapproved executive pay raises to the country’s top financial oversight body, after officials disclosed the regulator had increased its leadership’s salaries without required government approval.
The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, chaired by Sen. Rana Mahmood Ul Hassan, made the decision during a session called to examine Nepra management performance, telecommunications regulation, circular debt and independent power producers.
An official from the Cabinet Division told the committee that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, or Nepra, had raised salaries and allowances for its chairman, members, senior management and officers serving on contracts without seeking federal government approval, a violation of the law governing the authority.
Committee members said the move came even as a 2018 Nepra proposal for revised, market-based compensation has remained pending before the government.
The committee also said Nepra has been reluctant to submit to a performance audit by the auditor general of Pakistan. Members voted to direct that an audit be carried out and to refer the salary matter to the Public Accounts Committee for further review.
The committee separately raised concerns about capacity payments made to non-operational power plants, calling the payments an added cost for electricity consumers amid Pakistan’s circular debt problem. Members said some IPPs appeared to have worked against the government’s solar energy policy and criticised Nepra for not providing requested tariff determination data.
Committee members also questioned the placement of imported coal- and RLNG-fueled power plants in Punjab rather than coastal areas. Officials said the plants were sited near major demand centers. The committee directed Nepra to submit detailed data on all IPPs, including tariffs, generation capacity, installation costs and rate comparisons, and Hassan called for a review of electricity tariffs and a renegotiation or termination of some IPP agreements.
A separate review of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority rules on telecom rollout obligations was postponed after relevant officials did not attend. Hassan directed the federal IT minister, IT secretary, PTA chairman, a Law Division representative and the Ministry of IT’s legal member to attend the next meeting.
The committee said it would take up frequent changes in petroleum prices at its next meeting. Members also expressed dissatisfaction that the Federal Public Service Commission and Establishment Division had not implemented earlier committee recommendations to raise the age limit and number of allowed attempts for the Central Superior Services competitive exam and asked for a compliance report.
