LAHORE: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has decided to hold its public hearings at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in a meeting on Friday.
An official of the LCCI said that one of the primary reasons for this meeting was to make the hearing more accessible to the general public. NEPRA usually organise its public hearings in hotels and it was problematic for public concerned to keep a track of the venue as well as to attend the event, he said.
It was decided that NEPRA would establish its help desk at the LCCI and it would be operational soon, he added.
The LCCI official said that the help desk would resolve the issues in shortest time adding that these decisions were taken at a meeting between the NEPRA Director Imtiaz Hussain Baloch and LCCI Vice President (VP) Nasir Saeed at the LCCI in presence of the executive committee members of the chambers.
These initiatives were taken to help build trust between the authority and the business community, Baloch said.
The LCCI vice president highlighted several problems being faced by the business community including delay in getting site inspection, internal wiring test report and external works.
He suggested establishing an ‘Electronic Portal’, which would integrate with SECP, LRMIS and NADRA database to enable instant submission of application and relevant documents online and would also facilitate quick verification of the applicant.
He noted that it takes around 178 days in Pakistan to get a 140 KVA, three phase electricity connection. He lamented that despite being a crucial issue, the provision of electricity was not being given due importance.
The establishment of help desk and change of venue for public hearings appears to be a welcomed step but the actual performance of NEPRA remains a separate issue, he said. The authority has been working since 1997, but the provision of electricity and related issues seemed to have lingered for a long time, he added.
Moreover, NEPRA have been failing in one of its major responsibilities, which is ensuring that no unnecessary breakdown of electricity occurs, as LCCI VP Nasir Saeed pointed out that such breakdowns causes huge losses to the industry. Energy shortage continues to trap the industry and economy of the country in an unavoidable whirl and it is imperative now than ever to resolve the said issue, he said.
The meeting witnessed a heavy exchange of complaints and suggestions of possible solutions.
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