Senator Says Power Consumers Are Being Treated Like ‘Goats’

A Senate committee meeting turned heated after Senator Kamil Ali Agha said electricity users in Pakistan should no longer be called consumers but “goats,” as he criticized heavy taxation and rising power bills while highlighting his own Rs. 11,800 bill for just 102 units.

The remarks came during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Senator Saifullah Abro, where lawmakers sharply questioned the Power Division over electricity tariffs, taxes and continuing load shedding.

Agha told the committee that of his Rs. 11,800 bill for 102 units, only around Rs. 3,300 represented the actual cost of electricity, while nearly Rs. 8,500 consisted of taxes and other charges.

The committee chairman also criticized the taxation structure, saying multiple levies were being imposed on consumers even as load shedding continued despite official claims of surplus electricity.

In response, an additional secretary of the Power Division said the government itself was under pressure and noted that tariff structures had changed, particularly after increased solar adoption, which had affected consumption slabs.

Power Division officials said outages were mainly linked to LNG shortages, which had reduced power generation capacity. Agha questioned whether the country’s entire 48,000-megawatt capacity depended on LNG, prompting officials to say that load shedding was being managed according to the economic merit order.