The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Friday authorised ex-Wapda distribution companies (XWDiscos) to levy a Rs1.46 per unit charge in consumers’ electricity bills for September as part of fuel cost adjustment (FCA) charges.

According to Nepra, the FCA pertains to the month of July.

According to a notification issued by Nepra, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, “The adjustment of Rs.1.463/kWh shall be applicable to all the consumer categories except Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and lifeline consumers.”

It added that the said adjustment should be shown separately by XWDiscos in the consumers’ September bills on the basis of units billed to the consumers for July.

In July, the power regulator had raised the national average tariff by around Rs5 per unit, pushing the base unit power tariff from Rs24.82 to Rs29.78. On August 22, the government had once again sought to raise the power rate by Rs3.55 per unit.

Last week, a shutter-down strike was observed by traders in parts of the country prompted by steep electricity bills and inflation, both of which have reached unprecedented levels.

The strike was a continuation of the ongoing protest demonstrations led by traders and the public in various cities. Fuelled by their frustration with inflated power bills, people had taken to the streets in recent days against unbearable price hikes and inflated bills.

Recently, reacting to the outrage during interaction with journalists, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar had called it a “non-issue”, insisting that it was being raised by some political parties as a “tool” in their election campaigns.

However, in a clarification later, the interim information minister had maintained that some parts of the media misreported the caretaker PM’s interaction with journalists and the premier did not dismiss the matter as a non-issue.