Islamabad, July 2, 2025: A session of the Senate Standing Committee on Power was held on Wednesday at the Parliament House, chaired by Senator Mohsin Aziz.
During the briefing, the Secretary of the Power Division said that the repayment of the circular debt is being managed through the already-applied debt servicing surcharge. He clarified that no new financial pressure will be placed on the public. He also said that electricity subsidies have been cut down to control the growth of circular debt.
Senator Mohsin Aziz raised concern over the continued power outages despite the country having more than enough electricity. The Secretary responded by saying that overall power losses have decreased and system efficiency has improved. He added that load shedding only takes place in areas where electricity theft is widespread. Work is being done to introduce new technology at the transformer level to address theft.
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K-Electric representatives informed the committee that out of their 2,100 total feeders, 70% are free from load shedding. However, the remaining 30% still face outages due to heavy theft in those localities. They also said that electricity bills are now being offered in installments to ease the burden on consumers.
The committee chairman said the current electricity slab system is too rigid and suggested it be reviewed based on yearly usage averages.
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The Power Secretary shared that 58% of users fall in the “protected” category, getting electricity at Rs. 10 per unit. He added that Rs. 250 billion in subsidies will be given with approval from global financial institutions. A new scheme also lets consumers send their own meter readings, with half a million app downloads and 250,000 user registrations so far.
Senators Poonjo Bheel, Sherry Rehman, Shibli Faraz, Kazim Ali Shah, Haji Hidayatullah Khan, and senior officials from the concerned ministries attended the meeting.
