NEPRA Extends Licences’ Terminations of Eight DISCOs

Eight Distribution Companies (DISCOs) have had the terms of their provisional distribution licences extended by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) until April 30, 2023, or until the Authority makes a definitive decision on the case, whichever comes first.

The Authority held a public hearing on December 7, 2022, to decide whether to renew the temporary distribution licences of eight Discos (IESCO, FESCO, LESCO, GEPCO, HESCO, MEPCO, PESCO, and QESCO) or provide them with new licences.

Tauseef H. Farooqi, the chairman of NEPRA, Maqsood Anwar Khan, a member of KP, and Mathar Niaz Rana, a recently appointed member of Balochistan, all questioned the discos’ requests.

Regarding the granting of a new distribution licence to DISCOs, the key issue was the “renewal of distribution licence on new terms and conditions compliant with the NEPRA (Amendment) Act, 2018.”

The Regulator stated in its brief statement that “since the application of DISCO (with the name of each applicant Disco) is still being considered by the Authority, the Authority has decided to extend the period of provisional approval up to April 30, 2023, or until the time the Authority makes the final determination in the matter, whichever is earlier.