<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
This policy, he said, was presented not only as a personal financial benefit but as a national cause \u2014 reducing dependence on imported fuel, lowering energy costs, and moving Pakistan towards clean and sustainable energy.<\/p>\n
He said the government made a solemn commitment to the people, urging them to invest for their own benefit and for the future of Pakistan, while assuring that issues with independent power producers (IPPs) would be addressed as citizens shifted to self-generation through solar power.<\/p>\n
Acting on this assurance, people across the country invested heavily in solar panels, he said. He further stated that families diverted their life savings, sold assets, and even took loans, which they were still repaying, to install solar systems.<\/p>\n
Senator Zafar said that solar energy was present in nearly every household, commercial building, and agricultural operation. Despite this, the government has abruptly turned around and sought to cancel its commitment retrospectively, he regretted.<\/p>\n
He termed retrospective withdrawal and retrospective imposition as a grave injustice. He also pointed out that under established law, the doctrine of promissory estoppel \u2014 legal doctrine allowing enforcement of a promise lacking formal consideration to prevent injustice \u2014 applied.<\/p>\n
Calling the decision \u201cthe most cruel act of the government,\u201d Senator Zafar said it was akin to throwing a bomb into the already burdened lives of Pakistani citizens, who are struggling with soaring electricity bills and economic hardship.<\/p>\n
He questioned how the government could expect foreign investment when it failed to honour commitments made to its own people.<\/p>\n
Addressing the claim that the decision rested with Nepra, supposedly an independent authority, Senator Zafar categorically rejected this assertion.<\/p>\n
He said that Nepra did not act independently but followed government directives. Any suggestion to the contrary, he said, would be misleading.<\/p>\n
He challenged the government to prove its sincerity by making a clear commitment to ensure that the decision was withdrawn. He warned that the decision was disastrous, undermined public trust, damaged Pakistan\u2019s investment climate, and punished those who acted in good faith for the betterment of the country.<\/p>\n
In her remarks, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said that the decision by Nepra was beyond understanding. She said that the middle class was questioning why the government provided incentives in the first place, if this decision was to be taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can you do this to your country and citizens who are being affected the most by climate change?\u201d she asked. She said that the problem lay with the distribution system, asking what message was being sent to investors by changing tariffs again and again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have made electricity bills an instrument through which various taxes are being imposed,\u201d she said. She said that instead of setting up artificial intelligence centres like other countries, Pakistan was increasing the power bills of consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cManufacturing companies and domestic consumers should be provided with cheap electricity,\u201d she said, adding that major manufacturing industries were leaving Pakistan due to heavy taxes and expensive energy.<\/p>\n
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam \u2014 Fazl Senator Kamran Murtaza and PTI Senator Zeeshan Khanzada also spoke on similar lines.<\/p>\n
However, Power Minister Awais Leghari on Monday defended the move, stating that Nepra was within its remit to do so and that it had been done to take the burden off consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cChanging regulations according to the law and the Constitution is a regulator\u2019s job,\u201d he said, adding that he refused to step back from this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not policy; there should be clarity on that,\u201d he maintained. \u201cThis is a change in regulations, which was conducted according to the Constitution and Pakistan\u2019s laws,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The minister added that seminars were held involving solar associations, consumers and all other stakeholders, and that matters were settled with them last June.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Solar Association of Pakistan \u2014 whose bread and butter is installing and investing in these systems \u2014 conveyed to us that what the government was doing was not just necessary, but without it, public interests could not be saved,\u201d the minister emphasised.<\/p>\n
Leghari added that the solar association warned that up to 95 per cent of people would suffer \u201cgreater damages and increased burdens\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said in June, don\u2019t do this now, wait at least five or six months and carry out a proper transition,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cNepra, a regulator with the responsibility of maintaining its consumers\u2019 interests, was formed to watch consumer interest and protect people from increases in electricity prices.\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister noted that PTI Senator Ali Zafar spoke about retrospective effects, but said that there were none in this regulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am proud to say that in this regulation, our regulator did not reverse one clause on these contracts, which used to last seven years,\u201d Leghari said.<\/p>\n
He added that Zafar mentioned that these contracts would last 20 years, before assailing the PTI government.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder that Imran Niazi, electricity prices were touching the sky and we are trying to deal with it right now,\u201d he added. The minister emphasised that there were no 20-year contracts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a seven-year contract and until it expires, nobody in this country has dared to insert new terms and conditions in the contract. Nepra has not done this either,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
He added that of the over 30 million consumers, 466,506 of them had net-metering.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese 466,506 consumers have put 7,000 megawatts (mW) of electricity on net-metering,\u201d the minister stated. \u201cOther than these 466,000 consumers, there are 30.04m who live in flats or slums, where they cannot install solar systems, or they cannot afford them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Nepra allowed power to be bought at these rates, then the 30.04m consumers \u2014 who are the true public \u2014 would have to shoulder a Rs200 billion burden left by net-metering consumers, which would increase to Rs550bn,\u201d Leghari added.<\/p>\n
The minister further said that nothing would happen to the existing contracts of the 466,000 consumers, but that these were regulations for future consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are saying is that we will buy electricity from you based on the average rate of the grid,\u201d he explained. Leghari added that consumer regulations were evolving.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are policies formed by innovative thinking which evolve with time, and these aren\u2019t even policies, they are just regulations,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is not the first time regulations have been changed, or rates have been revised.\u201d<\/p>\n
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