Islamabad: The government has prepared a scheme for consumers to replace non-standard fans installed in homes across the country, with the aim of reducing electricity bills. Under this scheme, the company will install the fan of the consumer’s choice upon visiting their home, and the cost will be recovered in electricity bills over a period of one year.
Details of the government’s plan to replace substandard and high-cost fans have emerged. After the energy saving initiative, fans across the country switched. The National Energy and Conservation Authority has drawn up a comprehensive plan to replace the old fans, which the banks have shown their willingness to finance under State Bank guarantees.
The Energy Conservation Authority has submitted a comprehensive plan to the Ministry of Finance to replace the fan. According to sources in the power department, the bank will provide a loan of PKR 1,500 to replace the fans and the announcement of the plan will be made in the budget. They will provide standard customers with energy efficient fans after replacing the old ones. The bank will recover this amount through the monthly electricity bill.
Customers using this scheme will be reimbursed within a year. The National Energy and Conservation Authority will set up a web portal where all banks will list the fan prices of various companies. Consumers will apply online and once approved, the company that manufactures the fans will replace them in the consumer’s home.
Banks will offer financing to customers to replace fans, but this facility will not be available to contractors. In the first phase of the program, 8.8 million old fans were replaced. Currently, 14.7 million non-standard fans have been installed in the country, consuming seven thousand megawatts of electricity in the peak season.
Replacing old and substandard fans will save five thousand megawatts of electricity. According to sources from the Department of Energy, consumers will not have to pay installments on loans for new fans, because they are now paying monthly payments for old fans. Therefore, this scheme was prepared in consultation with the Financial Association. Standard fans will have barcodes and consumers will receive them after being tested at the PCISIR testing laboratory. A non-standard fan installed in the consumer’s house will be priced at fifteen hundred rupees.
