Privatisation Commission calls for stronger regulation before power DISCOs change hands

The Privatisation Commission has urged regulators to put stronger safeguards in place before power distribution companies are privatised, according to Profit by Pakistan Today. Its proposals assign NEPRA responsibility for licensing, pricing disclosures, network access and customer switching, while the Competition Commission of Pakistan would address unfair competition and market dominance.

The Commission also called for rules on transactions between network operators and their affiliated businesses, separation of network and supply operations, and equal access to customer and metering data. It said market competition should wait until billing, metering, settlement and payment systems are dependable, with protections for customers if a supplier defaults. Regulatory readiness would be assessed publicly before each stage of market opening, as privatisation alone would not fix structural weaknesses.