PESHAWAR, Jan 16: Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) deducted at source a total of Rs1.8 billion during 2001-02 on account of electricity arrears payable by the NWFP government’s departments, according to official sources.

Out of the Rs1.863 billion deducted at source through book adjustments under various heads of payment to NWFP, Wapda recovered, on its own, a sum of Rs1.259 billion on account of arrears payable by the provincial government’s departments.

Whereas, a sum of Rs586.2 million was recovered on account of arrears payable by district governments and their subordinate entities. Similarly, Rs18.3 million was deducted at source in a bid to recover arrears payable by the provincial government’s autonomous bodies.

“The legitimacy of the amount recovered through book adjustments has yet to be established,” said an officer of the NWFP government.

Wapda and the provincial government are presently engaged to reconcile the figures of electricity bills and payments made against them by the provincial and district governments’ entities to settle the issue.

The Authority, said the sources, agreed to the reconciliation drive after the provincial government lodged objections with the federal government regarding book adjustments made by Wapda during the last financial year.

In this respect, series of meetings between Wapda officials and representatives of the provincial government’s departments, their attached wing, autonomous bodies and district governments has been arranged by the provincial finance department.

The exercise is meant to reconcile the figures of recoveries made by Wapda through book adjustments in 2001-02 and the electricity charges paid by the provincial government’s departments and local government entities during the same period.

“Reconciliation is necessary as majority of the departments and local governments’ institutions are of the view that Wapda was not justified to make book adjustments after they have regularly been paying monthly electricity charges,” said an official involved in the reconciliation drive.

However, provincial authorities and sources in Wapda, when contacted, appear to be skeptical about the success of the currently undertaken reconciliation drive.

Wapda sources said that the provincial government’s authorities representing different entities were finding difficult to substantiate their claims of having paid monthly electricity charges on regular basis — a point also admitted by a source in the provincial government.

Provincial government’s sources said that failure to produce relevant official record to substantiate their claim of having paid monthly electricity charges might cost dearly the NWFP departments.

“They [representatives of departments] are not taking the drive seriously,” said the sources, adding that Wapda would be in no position to defend the book adjustments made against NWFP had the departments’ representative pursued their respective cases properly and effectively.

Of the total amount deducted at source, a sum of Rs428 million was adjusted against the electricity duty account - a provincial tax Wapda recovers on behalf of provinces from the electricity consumers every month.

Besides, Rs710 million was recovered through book adjustments made against NWFP’s account of net hydel profit share.

Whereas Rs725 million was recovered through book adjustments by the federal government against the NWFP’s direct federal transfers by diverting the province’s part of share from the Federal Divisible Pool.