ISLAMABAD: In an apparent injustice to responsible electricity consumers, the government has decided to give a 30 per cent rebate to thousands of defaulters who agree to clear their outstanding bills next month.

The government has also increased import duties on sugar and wheat to discourage decline in their prices.

The decisions were taken on Wednesday at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

Also read: Consumers to bear Rs55bn extra cost for power sector inefficiency

The committee expressed dissatisfaction over performance of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) but approved payment of two-month salary to its employees.

Some of those attending the meeting were of the opinion that granting concessions to electricity defaulters would send a wrong message to the consumers who had been making payments on time, sources said.

But after considerable debate, the meeting decided that ‘a last opportunity’ should be given to those defaulting on bills from the 2009-12 period before a crackdown was launched on defaulters through law-enforcement agencies.

The water and power ministry had informed the ECC that about Rs182 billion could be recovered from private consumers for bills dating back to the period from July 2009 to July 2012 provided some relaxation was allowed.

The ministry proposed that a 50 per cent rebate be allowed to the defaulter who wished to clear the dues next month, 40 per cent rebate if s(he) proceeded to clear the bills in August and 30 per cent rebate if s(he) wished to do so in September.

It also recommended that 10 per cent of the recovered amount be set aside for staff of the power companies and five per cent for personnel of the law-enforcement agencies helping such companies recover the amount. The ministry was of the view that only the domestic consumers should be targeted.

The ECC, however, did not agree to the hefty cash rewards proposed for personnel of the government agencies and allowed only a five per cent incentive for the staff of power companies making notable recoveries.

“The ECC decided that all cases of non-payment of dues during the period of three years preceding July 1, 2012, will be handed over to NAB (National Accountability Bureau) for recovery,” an official statement said.

The meeting also approved a package of incentives for those willing to clear their dues, said the statement. “Under this package the defaulters who pay full amount by July 31 will be given 30 per cent rebate; 25 per cent rebate will be allowed if they pay the full amount in August and 20 per cent in case they make the payment in September this year,” it said.

The ECC also increased the regulatory duty on import of sugar from 20 to 40 per cent while regulatory duty on import of wheat was increased from 25 per cent to 40 per cent. “The decision regarding increase in duties has been taken in line with demand of the farmers’ community and availability of abundant stocks of these commodities in the country,” the finance ministry said, adding that sugar millers were asked to clear their dues to sugarcane growers as soon as possible.

The meeting also approved a request by the defence ministry to issue a sovereign guarantee for procurement of six maritime patrol vessels (MPVs) for the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency on soft loan basis at a cost of Rs13.87bn.

The finance ministry and the State Bank of Pakistan would now take measures for issuance of guarantee to M/s China Shipbuilding and Trading Company Limited.

The committee approved extension in the time period for export of wheat and wheat flour by Sindh and Punjab to July 31 this year. In January the ECC had allowed the two provinces to export up to 1.2 million tons of wheat and in February the export of wheat flour.

The deadlines had later been extended to April 30 and May 15 for Sindh and Punjab respectively but targets could not be achieved.

The meeting approved release of Rs64 million for payment of salaries for April and May to employees of the Pakistan Machine Tool Factory.

The ECC expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the PSM management which had failed to meet production targets but approved payment of the salaries of PSM employees for January and February.

The committee also asked PSM to give a clear roadmap regarding its functioning so that a strategic decision about its future status could be taken.

Published in Dawn June 18th, 2015

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