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The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has issued a letter to K-Electric (KE), demanding urgent action to fix Karachi’s worsening power crisis and reduce prolonged load shedding.
NEPRA stated that it has received hundreds of complaints from citizens, many reporting outages of 2.5 to 3 hours, with some areas facing over 12 hours of power cuts daily.
The regulatory body stressed that extended power outages during the ongoing heatwave have made life unbearable for residents and severely affected businesses and economic activities in the metropolis.
According to the letter, K-Electric’s performance continues to decline, with increasing transmission losses, poor recovery, and weak planning undermining the very purpose of its privatization.
Despite access to 1,600 megawatts from the National Grid and cheaper electricity, KE has failed to fully utilize available resources or provide any cost relief to consumers.
NEPRA also criticized KE for operating some of its power plants at partial capacity, calling it a clear sign of poor strategy and weak operational management.
The letter warned that recovering bills by shutting down feeders is unethical and illegal, stressing that reducing losses and improving bill recovery must be the company’s top priorities.
NEPRA reminded KE of previous fines over unjustified load shedding, blaming the company for seeking regulatory concessions instead of making structural corrections.
It also dismissed KE’s argument about reduced consumer bills due to the negative Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA), saying it is no excuse for non-payment or poor services.
NEPRA concluded by urging KE to take immediate corrective measures to restore public trust, reduce outages, and fulfill its core responsibility of ensuring power supply.
