June 14, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 09, 1429

LAHORE, June 13: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday criticised the government for imposing 10 per cent withholding tax on electricity bills exceeding Rs20,000 and termed it an anti-industry and anti-people step.

In a statement issued on Saturday, LCCI President Mohammad Ali Mian said that apart from quite a few other things on which the business community has serious reservations, this single step would hit the whole industrial sector hard, besides increasing the cost of production; leaving the Pakistani merchandise uncompetitive in the global market.

Ali Mian said that new levy was imposed as a part of new government’s revenue generation measure but it is beyond the perception of anybody that if the policy-makers had the only option to generate revenue. He said that through the budget an effort has been mad to convert Wapda into a revenue collection agency.

The LCCI president said that power bills from the next month for the industrial units would be on higher side because of one per cent increase in GST, cut in subsidy and 10 per cent withholding tax. He said that one per cent GST would add Rs57 in the electricity bill of a consumer using 1,000 units a month.

He said Pakistan was a power-deficient country and its industry was already facing multiple crises owing to electricity shortage and one can well imagine the result of further taxing a highly fragile industry.—PPI