According to official estimates, electricity prices can be lowered by up to twenty rupees per unit. By revising agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs), the federal government has devised a formula to lower electricity prices by Rs20 per unit, with a potential reduction of Rs9.70 per unit.

Negotiations with 14 IPPs have been concluded, according to the working document, while agreements with six will be cancelled. All IPP agreements will be revised, which will lower power costs by Rs9.70 per unit.

In order to implement the “Electricity for Payments” strategy, the government intends to persuade commercial power plants. Next Monday, the Cabinet is anticipated to get a summary of these IPPs.

Convincing IPPs to implement the “Electricity for Payments” strategy will reduce capacity payments by half, the documents claim. At the moment, capacity payments from customers are Rs1,916 billion per year. The revised agreement will lower this sum to Rs967 billion.

Eight separate taxes that are applied to electricity bills are also being eliminated by the Ministry of Energy. Every year, these taxes cost consumers Rs. 954 billion. Prices for power might drop by an extra Rs. 9 per unit if these taxes are eliminated.

Additionally, according to the working paper, converting coal-fired power facilities from imported to domestic coal will result in an additional Rs. 2 per unit reduction in electricity costs.

During yesterday’s federal cabinet meeting, the prime minister said the country’s economy is stabilising and that the government intends to ask the IMF to lower electricity prices.

He underlined that lowering electricity costs is necessary for the expansion of exports, businesses, and agriculture.

In order to speed up the process, the PM indicated that more meetings would be conducted this week and that talks are still going on with possibilities to reduce electricity bills.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has disclosed significant revenue losses resulting from rampant VPN utilisation during internet outages.

An investigative report by the authority on internet disruptions indicates that the country was incurring a loss of nearly $10,000 per minute due to diminished production and stressed internet infrastructure.

The analysis said that bandwidth utilisation via VPNs surged to an unprecedented 634 Gbps in August 2024, thereafter declining to 378 Gbps by November. By December, significant enhancements in internet services were observed, resulting in a modest decrease in VPN usage to 437 Gbps.

The analysis indicates that the country incurred a loss of $10,000 every minute as a result of an increase of one terabyte per second.

The PTA attributed the rising utilisation of VPNs to stress and disturbances in internet infrastructure, compelling users to circumvent local Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). The survey said that 70% of internet access in Pakistan is facilitated by CDNs.

VPNs route traffic across international servers, circumventing local CDNs. This redirection overwhelmed global submarine cables, particularly during peak usage hours, and caused additional strain on the system, as the submarine is incapable of handling the load during rush hours.

During the internet interruptions, WhatsApp temporarily transferred its servers to international locations, resulting in connectivity concerns for millions of users in Pakistan. This action intensified the nation’s dependence on foreign internet routing, revealing the weaknesses of its domestic infrastructure.

The PTA’s research highlighted the necessity for substantial improvements to Pakistan’s internet infrastructure, including augmenting the capacity of underwater cables and refining local routing systems to diminish reliance on overseas servers.

It emphasised the need of advancing local CDNs to equilibrate bandwidth utilisation and alleviate the strain induced by VPN traffic.

In Ajmer Sharif, a group of pilgrims from Pakistan laid a traditional chaddar before the shrine of Hazrat Khawaja Syed Moinuddin Hasan Chishti.

Today, the traditional Chaddar was deposited at the Shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Syed Moinuddin Hasan Chishti (RA) in Ajmer Sharif by Pakistani Zaireen, accompanied by Mr. Tariq Masroof, Second Secretary, Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi.

A group of 89 Pakistani Zaireen are in Ajmeer Sharif from January 7–9, 2025, to help celebrate Hazrat Khwaja Syed Moinuddin Hasan Chishti’s (RA) 813th annual Urs Mubarak.

Following the traditional chaddar’s placement on behalf of the Pakistani people and government, the delegation prayed for Pakistan’s development and well-being.

The delegation was greeted by notable members of the Anjuman Moinia Fakhria Chishtia Khuddam Khwaja Sahib upon their arrival at the Dargah.

The annual Urs Mubarak of Hazrat Khwaja Syed Moinuddin Hasan Chishti (RA) is attended by Pakistani Zaireen in accordance with the 1974 India-Pakistan protocol for religious shrine visits.