KARACHI - The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has issued the notification of 70 per cent rise in the power tariff, increasing consumers' electricity bills by almost two-fold. The new tariff will be effective from September 1, 2008. Consumers using up to 100 units of electricity will be charged Rs4.97 per unit; users of 100 to 300 units Rs6.13 per unit; 300 to 1000 units Rs8.58 per unit and; those consuming above 1000 units will be billed at Rs 9.80 per unit. Hence, consumers using up to 100 units will have to pay around Rs700 including taxes. This means consumers' electricity bills will almost become double of what they are paying now. Commercial consumers consuming up to 100 units would pay Rs 9.93 per unit while those consuming 100 to 300 units would be billed at the rate of Rs10.04 per unit. Industrial consumers consuming 400 megawatts off-peek will have to pay Rs 8.05 per unit while those using full peek will have to pay Rs 8.15 per unit. It is worth mentioning here that the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) had sent the summary proposing a rise in tariff in the months of April and July, which was rejected by the government "The situation of electricity is still the same. There is no such improvement in the company as far as the corruption is concerned, how can they demand so high price for the utility which is scarcely provided to the city. We are paying fairly to the company for our consumption of this utility so it's our right to know when the company will take step towards for the betterment of electricity", said a consumer. The commercial consumers of this utility also protested against this act of NEPRA to allow the KESC for tariff hiking. "Our business has already suffered due to the continuous power breakdowns in the city. Now this tariff hiking will leave us in great trouble," said a businessman. The city is facing six to eight hours loadshedding. The shortage of power supply was 400 to 500 MW. It is to be noted here that the desired amount of electricity is increasing in the city day by day and it now stands above 2400 MW.