IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pid/journl/v61y2022i2p259-274.html

An Assessment of Electricity Tariff Reforms in Karachi City: The City of Light (Article)

Author

Listed:
  • Fouzia Sohail

    (Assistant Professor/Research Economist, Applied Economics Research Centre, University of Karachi.)

  • Ambreen Fatima

    (Senior Research Economist, Applied Economics Research Centre, University of Karachi.)

Abstract

Providing reliable access to electricity to every citizen is a responsibility of the government, which is also considered an imperative condition for improving the life of every household in a country. This study thus aims to find the electricity accessibility as well as affordability condition of the households of Karachi. To collect in-depth electricity information at the household level, this study surveys Karachi city through a questionnaire design. The study surveyed 467 randomly selected households from 18 towns in Karachi. The accessibility and affordability indicators of electricity have been examined using descriptive analysis. Findings from the survey data reveal that although tariff rates are still subsidised for lower consumption households, additional charges such as government charges, TVL fees, fuel adjustment charges, etc., constitute a significant proportion of total electricity bills. The study also recognises households’ cognitive and behavioural aspects of energy use by incorporating these modules in the survey questionnaire. Hence, numerous viable policy options are recommended in the study to successfully implement reforms without compromising the social aspects.

Suggested Citation

  • Fouzia Sohail & Ambreen Fatima, 2022. "An Assessment of Electricity Tariff Reforms in Karachi City: The City of Light (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 61(2), pages 259-274.
    • Handle: RePEc:pid:journl:v:61:y:2022:i:2:p:259-274
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://pide.org.pk/pdfpdr/2022/259%E2%80%93274.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samad,Hussain A. & Zhang,Fan, 2018. "Electrification and Household Welfare : Evidence from Pakistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8582, The World Bank.
    2. Taryn Dinkelman, 2011. "The Effects of Rural Electrification on Employment: New Evidence from South Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3078-3108, December.
    3. Molly Lipscomb & A. Mushfiq Mobarak & Tania Barham, 2013. "Development Effects of Electrification: Evidence from the Topographic Placement of Hydropower Plants in Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 200-231, April.
    4. Chakravorty, Ujjayant & Pelli, Martino & Ural Marchand, Beyza, 2014. "Does the quality of electricity matter? Evidence from rural India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 107(PA), pages 228-247.
    5. Thomas Walker & Sebnem Sahin & Mohammad Saqib & Kristy Mayer, 2014. "Reforming Electricity Subsidies in Pakistan : Measures to Protect the Poor," World Bank Publications - Reports 21569, The World Bank Group.
    6. Samad,Hussain A. & Zhang,Fan, 2016. "Benefits of electrification and the role of reliability : evidence from India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7889, The World Bank.
    7. repec:aen:journl:33-1-a07 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meeks, Robyn C. & Omuraliev, Arstan & Isaev, Ruslan & Wang, Zhenxuan, 2023. "Impacts of electricity quality improvements: Experimental evidence on infrastructure investments," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Obsa Urgessa Ayana & Jima Degaga, 2022. "Effects of rural electrification on household welfare: a meta-regression analysis," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(2), pages 209-261, June.
    3. Bhukta, Rikhia & Pakrashi, Debayan & Saha, Sarani & Sedai, Ashish, 2024. "Community electrification and women’s autonomy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. Bayer, Patrick & Kennedy, Ryan & Yang, Joonseok & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2020. "The need for impact evaluation in electricity access research," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    5. Gupta, Ridhima & Pelli, Martino, 2021. "Electrification and cooking fuel choice in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    6. Khanna, Shefali & Rowe, Kevin, 2024. "The long-run value of electricity reliability in India," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Santosh Kumar & Ganesh Rauniyar, 2018. "The impact of rural electrification on income and education: Evidence from Bhutan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 1146-1165, August.
    8. Deutschmann, Joshua W. & Postepska, Agnieszka & Sarr, Leopold, 2021. "Measuring willingness to pay for reliable electricity: Evidence from Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    9. Eliana Carranza & Robyn Meeks, 2021. "Energy Efficiency and Electricity Reliability," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(3), pages 461-475, July.
    10. Duncan Chaplin & Arif Mamun & Ali Protik & John Schurrer & Divya Vohra & Kristine Bos & Hannah Burak & Laura Meyer & Anca Dumitrescu & Christopher Ksoll & Thomas Cook, "undated". "Grid Electricity Expansion in Tanzania by MCC: Findings from a Rigorous Impact Evaluation, Final Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 144768f69008442e96369195e, Mathematica Policy Research.
    11. Meles, Tensay Hadush, 2020. "Impact of power outages on households in developing countries: Evidence from Ethiopia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    12. Aditi Bhattacharyya & Daisy Das & Arkadipta Ghosh, 2017. "Electrification and Welfare of Poor Households in Rural India," Working Papers 1702, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
    13. Chaurey, Ritam & Le, Duong Trung, 2018. "Infrastructure Grants and the Performance of Microenterprises," IZA Discussion Papers 11749, IZA Network @ LISER.
    14. Magbondé, Kadoukpè Gildas & Reilly, Barry & Kauma, Bridget, 2024. "The distributional effects of rural electrification on household welfare: Evidence from Senegal," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    15. Perez Sebastian,Fidel & Steinbuks,Jevgenijs & Feres,Jose Gustavo & Trotter,Ian Michael, 2020. "Electricity Access and Structural Transformation : Evidence from Brazil's Electrification," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9182, The World Bank.
    16. Tushar Bharati & Yiwei Qian & Jeonghwan Yun, 2020. "Fueling the Engines of Liberation with Cleaner Cooking Fuel," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 20-03, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    17. Abbasi ,Mansoureh & Lebrand,Mathilde Sylvie Maria & Mongoue,Arcady Bluette & Pongou,Roland & Zhang,Fan, 2022. "Roads, Electricity, and Jobs: Evidence of Infrastructure Complementarity in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9976, The World Bank.
    18. Ujjayant Chakravorty & Ridhima Gupta & Martino Pelli, 2022. "The economics of rural energy use in developing countries," CIRANO Working Papers 2022s-12, CIRANO.
    19. Michael Grimm & Robert Sparrow & Luca Tasciotti, 2015. "Does Electrification Spur the Fertility Transition? Evidence From Indonesia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(5), pages 1773-1796, October.
    20. Asami Takeda & Jonna P. Estudillo, 2025. "Impacts of access to electricity on employment and household income growth in Cambodia," Philippine Review of Economics, University of the Philippines School of Economics and Philippine Economic Society, vol. 62(1), pages 56-76, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pid:journl:v:61:y:2022:i:2:p:259-274. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Khurram Iqbal (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/pideipk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.