ICCI moves SC against IPPs

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has moved the Supreme Court (SC) against policies governing Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

According to details, the chamber has filed a petition in the apex court through Advocate Faisal Naqvi requesting a comprehensive forensic audit of all IPPs It has also asked the SC to prevent government and agencies concerned from profiteering off of essential utilities such as electricity.

The petition argues that existing policies have allowed successive governments to reward power contracts to IPPs without competitive bidding or rational justification.

Moreover, it requests the top court to ensure the full implementation of a 2020 report on IPPs. This includes recovering excess profits from IPPs, renegotiating agreements from “take or pay” to “take and pay,” correcting anomalies in the calculation of internal rates of return (IRR), and removing provisions that permit the dollarization of amounts not invested in foreign currencies.

The 2020 report detailed IPPs’ violations and excessive profits, yet the budget for a proposed forensic audit was never approved.

The petition has quoted Article 9 of the Constitution, which makes it mandatory for the government to ensure the provision of electricity to citizens at the lowest possible cost. It says the state cannot arbitrarily award contracts to IPPs, but must follow a proper mechanism to ensure transparent and competitive bidding.