KARACHI: The collection of Industrial Support Package (ISPA) arrears has been deferred by K-Electric till the end of April in light of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, a press release issued by the utility company on Monday said.

Accordingly, the arrears will not be collected in the monthly bills till April 30, 2020. Furthermore, the current bill of March 2020 may be paid without ISPA arrears and would be payable before the 31st of this month without any late payment surcharge, it added.

Meanwhile, a press release of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said the decision was taken after a meeting of Chairman Businessmen Group Siraj Kassam Teli with CEO KE Syed Moonis Abdullah on Monday.

The deferred amount will be paid by the industry to KE if it is unable to get it reversed directly from the federal government.

All industries are asked to pay bills to KE so as to ensure sustainability of power sector. According to the KCCI press release, all consumers who have already paid ISPA arrears would get adjustment if the federal government decides to reverse the same by April 30, 2020.

Few days back, KE had said the withdrawal of ISPA from July-December 2019 in the bills issued to industrial consumers is in accordance with the Ministry of Energy’s (MoE) notification and consistent with the bills charged to industrial consumers across Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2020