KARACHI: Trade and industry leaders on Tues­day urged the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to reject the Rs2.5182 fuel cost hike for July and Rs1.34 per unit quarterly tariff adjustment sought by the power firms, warning that the combined impact could force struggling industries towards closure.

Rejecting the proposed FCA and QTA, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Pre­sident Rehan Hanif has noted that if both adjustments were approved and applied simultaneously, September electricity bills could carry an additional burden of nearly Rs3.86 per unit, even before taxes.

More alarmingly, the existing negative QTA relief of Rs1.9857 per unit expires after August, while August bills already carry a positive FCA of Rs0.7503 per unit.

Consequently, the shift from August’s net periodic adjustment to the proposed September adjustments could exceed Rs5.09 per unit before taxes, he said in a statement.

“This is not an ordinary tariff adjustment; it is a power-tariff ambush on industry,” he said, adding that at the highest level, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif repeatedly speaks of reducing the cost of doing business, reviving industry and accelerating exports, but decisions being taken and implemented at lower levels are moving in exactly the opposite direction and effectively sabotaging the prime minister’s economic vision.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2026