In a judgment issued on Tuesday, the Lahore High Court (LHC Rawalpindi ) bench ordered the appropriate authorities to suspend the Fuel Charge Adjustment (FCA) for all power consumers. Previously, the government granted this compensation to consumers who used less than 200 units of power per month.
The bench, led by Justice Jawad Hassan, heard a petition from Advocate Ch. Rizwan Elahi asked the court to rescind the FCA on power bills. The judge suspended the FCA and ordered the Chief of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) to appear in court on September 15th. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) have also been called for the next hearing.
Also Read: NEPRA Approves Rs.4.34-Unit Fuel Adjustment Increase for July
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif ordered the removal of fixed sales tax from electricity bills earlier this month, as well as the creation of a new system for this purpose. He also asked for an investigation into the increased sales tax ratio on shopkeepers’ and retailers’ electricity bills which was not agreed upon.
On August 20, he gave directions while chairing a meeting to discuss electricity pricing and the collection of fixed sales tax via electricity bills. Khurram Dastagir, Minister of Energy and Engineer; Miftah Ismail, Minister of Finance; Dr. Musadik Malik, Minister of Petroleum; the Chairman of the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR); concerned federal secretaries, and other senior officials attended the meeting.
