0
KARACHI, March 27: City Nazim Naimatullah Khan said on Thursday that the city government would resist any move by the KESC to further burden its consumers with a new tax.
Talking to Dawn, Naimatullah Khan criticized KESC’s assertion that it would pass on the tax to consumers if the city government levies octroi on electricity entering the city’s 18 town administrations. He said it was “unwise” and “unjustified”.
KESC MD Brig Tariq Saddozai, during a briefing on Wednesday, had told newsmen that “if the city government levies octroi on electricity entering 18 towns, the KESC will pass on the tax to consumers.”
“The KESC will not be allowed to transfer the burden of the tax on consumers,” declared the Nazim.
He also gave an assurance to the people that the city government will resist the KESC move as it was bound to pay to the city government and a verdict had already been given by Supreme Court in this regard.
Describing the KESC as a ‘white elephant’, he suggested the KESC not to over-burden the people as they are already under strain and were groaning owing to exorbitant electricity bills which, in addition to consumption charges, carry additional surcharge, fuel adjustment charges, meter rent, electricity duty and withholding tax, etc.
Mr Khan advized the KESC management to arrange payment of octroi to the city government by overcoming its transmission and distribution losses, eliminating Kunda system in the city, reducing administrative expenditure and checking other pilferage, instead of further financially overburdening consumers.
“In fact, the city government demands reduction in power tariff,” the Nazim said, adding, he would be taking up the issue in a couple of days.
PROTEST: Expressing concern over KESC MD’s “unilateral decision” of installing another feeder for providing electricity to the pumping stations and recovering its cost from W&S department in instalments, a senior officer of the department said that his organization was not prepared to pay any extra amount to the KESC for its omissions and commissions.
“In fact, it is obligatory upon the KESC to ensure uninterrupted power supply to pumping stations by properly maintaining its network, for which the utility has already been receiving billions of rupees from the W&S department under the head of water charges bills,” he said.
Under the rules, the KESC can recover cost of material and labour only from the applicants of new connections but as far as maintenance of such self-financing system was concerned, the utility can recover the amount through its monthly charges and not through extra billing, he added.
Accusing the KESC of providing connections to New Sabzimandi and other commercial consumers from the transformers and feeders which are solely meant for North-East Karachi (Old) and K-2 pumping stations, he said his organization had lodged a strong protest with the KESC to immediately withdraw extra connections/load from such transformers/feeders.
He further said that at the time of sanctioning such connections, the W&S department had paid heavy amounts for full sanctioned load and, according to a law, such feeders cannot be sub-let to other consumers without the water and sewerage department’s consent.
