Baghdad Provincial Council moves to regulate private generator fuel pricing

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Baghdad Provincial Council has linked private generator operators' failure to comply with the official ampere tariff to irregularities in fuel distribution, and instructed that excess charges collected from violators be refunded to citizens through local mukhtars and relevant units. Ali Talib al-Zarqani, head of the council's Oil and Gas Committee, said the August tariff for the gold line has been set at 13,000 dinars and that enforcement has been tightened. Al-Zarqani said about 70 percent of operators on the Rusafa side comply with the tariff, while on the Karkh side roughly 3,000 generators lack fuel quotas, forcing operators to buy fuel on the open market at higher prices. The committee has prepared a plan to regulate fuel distribution and ensure uninterrupted operation of the generators, according to al-Zarqani. An electronic system featuring smart meters to monitor operating hours, subscriber registrations and bill collection is to be rolled out in the near future, with the "Muwallidi" application allowing subscribers to switch to another operator if they wish. No further details on the launch date of the electronic system were immediately available.