ISLAMABAD: The local business community during a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry lauded the decision of the Lahore High Court for annulling all kinds of surcharges from electricity bills and called upon the government to ensure full implementation of this decision with immediate effect, as it will provide great relief to business and industry as well as to the common man.
Presiding over the meeting, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Muzzamil Hussain Sabri said that surcharges in a commercial bill accounted for more than 43% of the total bill, making electricity tariffs almost highest in the region. He said the average cost of commercial bill without surcharges was over Rs 17 per unit, while with the addition of surcharges, this average cost rose to around Rs 25 per unit, which was highest in the region. Compared to this, the average tariff for the same unit was Rs 7.36 and Rs 5.47, respectively, in India and Bangladesh, while it was equal to Rs 8.59 per unit in the United States.
He said the high electricity tariff was the main factor for high cost of doing business in Pakistan and stressed that the government should immediately withdraw all surcharges including Equalisation Surcharge, Debt Servicing Surcharge, Universal Obligation Fund Surcharge and Neelum-Jhelum Surcharge from electricity bills and refund or adjust the collected amount of surcharges in the coming bills as the Lahore High Court has termed these surcharges illegal and unconstitutional.
Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Senior Vice President Muhammad Shakeel Munir and Vice President Muhammad Ashfaq Hussain Chatha said that instead of supplying electricity at affordable rates, the government has made power tariff a source of generating tax revenue by imposing various surcharges, which was totally unjustified.
They stressed that instead of burdening domestic and commercial consumers with unnecessary surcharges, the government should focus on controlling line losses and power theft and take measures to bring drastic improvements in the power sector.
