• Mayor terms collection a ‘big achievement’ for city
• Says KMC revenue generation improving with each passing day

KARACHI: The city administration on Tuesday announced that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation had generated more than Rs220 million through Municipal Utility Charges and Tax (MUCT), which is collected through K-Electric bills in the month of August, while it was looking at something near “three billion rupees” to be collected in a year.

The KMC said the money would be used for “development projects” and for payment of pensions and dues of municipal employees.

Sharing details at a press conference of what he described as a “big achievement”, City Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab said opposition members in the City Council and some political parties had “spread propaganda” against the MUCT and were putting up resistance against the tax and preventing the government from implementing it for past three years.

“Where are those leaders and parties who had claimed and misguided Karachiites that the KE will never pay to the KMC after collecting the charges,” he said while waving the Rs220m MUCT cheque given by the KE to the KMC, it had collected in the bills of August, 2024.

“They misguided the people of Karachi. They prevented the city administration from becoming financially stable and independent. Due to their propaganda and vested political interests during past three years against this tax, the city lost Rs10bn. And let me tell you that it’s the payment of only one month. By the end of the year, we would be able to collect around three billion rupees in a year. All these funds would now be used for city development as well as for payment of pensions and dues of municipal employees.”

He vowed to make the spending of the MUCT transparent and fair and details of receipts and expenditures would be made available online on the KMC website.

Flanked by Deputy Mayor Salman Abdullah Murad, Barrister Wahab said that new District ADP (Annual Development Program) had started and all development works in the city would begin within a month under the program.

“With monthly funds increased from half a million rupees to Rs1.2m, union council chairmen are now financially empowered to address issues such as road repair, sewage, and streetlights in their areas,” he said.

“We took charge a year and four months ago and our primary goal is to put the KMC on solid footing. Our second goal is to mobilise and motivate KMC officials who have become demoralised due to concerns about funding for development projects. We took this matter to the provincial government and last year, the provincial government allocated Rs4.5bn to the KMC from its annual development program. An additional Rs10bn would be paid this year for development works in Karachi.”

Rs200m other taxes

He said that the KMC’s revenue generation was improving with each passing day and during the last one year, the corporation had collected Rs200m under different taxes, out of which Rs45m was paid to contractors, leaving Rs155m annually for the KMC.

The KMC and the KE had signed an agreement in June 2022 which had finally become effective from July after the City Council approved the levy of the charges.

According to the agreement, the KE would collect the MUCT from its domestic and non-domestic consumers living within the jurisdiction of the KMC through their monthly power bills.

The consumers will be charged as per their categories, which will be notified by the KMC from time to time.

Referring to different slabs of the MUCT, an official said that the KE consumers receiving bills of up to 100 units would remain exempted from the new tax and those consuming units between 101 and 200 would pay Rs20 every month.

The mayor at the press conference said that the city administration had decided to outsource the collection of municipal taxes through K-Electric, reducing the previous tax of Rs500 to a slab up to Rs400 and also won a court case in July 2024 to resume the collection.

He also referred to differing development works of the KMC going on in various parts of Karachi.

He said that the infrastructure development of Sarfaraz Rafiqui Shaheed Hospital, Jinnah Bridge, G. Allana Road, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Baba and Bhit Islands, and M.A. Jinnah Road would be completed by Dec 31 this year.

“The provincial government has provided Rs1.5bn for road repairs after recent rains, and the KMC is spending an additional Rs500m from its budget,” said Mayor Wahab.

“We are making no compromise on construction materials this time. The people must know that the projects like Kashmir Road and Malir River Bridge are being handled by KMC, not by any town. The KMC is working in New Karachi, Orangi Town and Lasi Goth, using every available resource for the welfare of the city.”

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2024