PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday issued notices to the federal government, Water and Power Development Authority and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority and sought their response to petitions challenging multiple taxes and duties in electricity bills and free electric supply to government employees.

A bench consisting of Justice Abdul Shakoor and Justice Syed Arshad Ali issued the order after preliminary hearing of two almost identical petitions requesting to declare illegal the imposition of multiple taxes, duties and fees in electricity bills by distribution companies (Discos).

One of the petitions was filed by chairman of the Pakhtunkhwa Qaumi Jirga Khalid Ayub and 20 other residents, who have also requested the court to declare unlawful the introduction of multiple slabs with different prices for the purpose of calculating the monthly consumption bills and also that of the ‘peak and off-peak hours’ and unilateral repeated changes therein.

The petitioners also provided a table containing the number of free units provided free of charge to different categories of government employees, especially Disco/Wapda employees from BPS-1 to BPS-22.

Response also sought about free electric supply to govt employees

They challenged the growing increase in line losses and its recovery from the consumers.

The second petition was filed by retired Major General Mohammad Saad Khattak and 15 other residents of Peshawar and Nowshera including some lawyers.

Apart from other prayers, they requested the court to direct the respondents including the federal government and Wapda to charge the domestic consumers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rs 10 per unit only.

The petitioners also requested the court to declare illegal the free units of electricity to different officials of all the ministries, divisions, and departments.

They prayed the court to declare without lawful authority any agreement with the International Monetary Fund in the shape of imposition of taxes on poor citizens.

There are several respondents in these petitions, including the federal government through secretary of the Establishment Division (Cabinet Division), secretary of the ministry of energy and power, Wapda through its chairman, National Finance Commission through its chairman, National Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) through its chairman, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through its chief secretary, and Power Planning and Monitoring Company through its chief executive officer.

Advocates Ameenur Rehman Yousafzai and Shah Faisal Ilyas appeared in both cases and gave details of the production of hydel, thermal, nuclear, wind, solar and bagasse electricity.

They said that the total capacity during the fiscal year 2021-22 for generation of electricity in the country was 43,775 megawatts through different sources out of which 10,635MW was hydel power and 26,683MW thermal.

The counsel said the transmission and distribution capacity was stalled at around 22,000MW irrespective of the generation capacity.

They contended that for the consumption of electricity the consumers had been charged much exorbitant rates than that of the production-cum-distribution costs, besides subjecting them to multiple taxes including income tax, general sales tax, E-tax, service rent, fuel price adjustment, PTV fee, LP surcharge, GST on LPS, meter rent, peak hours charges, FC surcharge, electricity duty, and annual quarter tariff adjustment.

The petitioners contended that those multiple taxes had no legal justification.

They contended that fixation of units for domestic consumers with different categories, slabs and different rates, speaks volume of malafide and having no legal coverage and sanctity.

The petitioners added that once per unit rate was fixed in bills, then imposition of duty on the same makes no sense, because once unit rates were paid, then further taxing those units were illegal, likewise increasing unit rate

They said electric supply was a basic need of life, so subjecting power consumers to “oppressive taxes” amounted to the denial of electricity.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2023