KARACHI: The business and industrial community has raised concerns over inflated gas bills for the month, which have been calculated using peak-hour charges instead of off-peak rates. This has led to significant financial distress, particularly among industries already grappling with economic challenges.

Industrialists have pointed out that, had the gas consumption been assessed using off-peak rates, the cost per unit would be around Rs238. However, the bills reflect charges nearly double or up to two and a half times higher than this amount. The misapplication of peak-hour charges has led to widespread complaints from industrial consumers, who argue that this billing method is both incorrect and unjustified.

Karachi chamber raises concerns over peak-hour charges, demands uniform 24-hour tariff

In a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Businessmen Group (BMG) Chairman Zubair Motiwalla and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Jawed Bilwani called the inflated charges unaffordable and warned that if not corrected, they would lead to industry closures, loss of jobs, and a sharp decline in Pakistan’s export competitiveness.

While it has been suggested that the high charges stem from IMF directives, KCCI maintains that this justification is misplaced. The chamber emphasised that while IMF programmes may call for fiscal reforms, they do not mandate the indiscriminate application of peak-hour rates. They further argued that such pricing practices undermine the basic principles of cost-reflective pricing and fairness, contradicting the government’s industrial facilitation efforts.

The KCCI has urged the prime minister to intervene and direct a review of the gas bills issued to industrial consumers this month, ensuring the misapplication of peak-hour charges is corrected. They have also called for the introduction of a uniform 24-hour tariff for industrial users, which would simplify billing, restore fairness, and enhance investor and exporter confidence.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2025