The Lahore High Court on Monday abolished the fuel adjustment duty for small consumers of electricity using up to 350 units in a month, and permitted the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to get fuel adjustment charges from industrial consumers, while vacating the stay order which was earlier granted on the matter.
Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan passed the order on about 700 identical petitions by domestic and industrial consumers against the fuel adjustment charges being added in the monthly electricity bills by WAPDA and its subsidiary bodies such as the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) and the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO). According to the order, only those domestic consumers using more than 350 units in a month will have to bear the burden of fuel adjustment charges. On the other hand, there will be no relaxation for the industrial sector in the billing. Now that the court’s order has come, the industrial consumers who did not pay the fuel charges in the last few months due to the stay order by the LHC, will have to pay all the pending fuel adjustment charges to WAPDA.
Khwaja Abdur Rahim, the counsel for WAPDA, justified the fuel adjustments charges to meet the electricity cost. While the petitioners’ counsel, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed gave arguments against the fuel adjustment duty which, he asserted, was unlawfully imposed in the current bills as it was implemented from backdates to collect the fuel charges of the past months. About domestic consumers, he said the poor and middle class people were under great stress due to additional charge being added in the bills by WAPDA and that they were unable to pay the inflated bills due to general price hike already affecting them badly. Initially, the court had restrained WAPDA from receiving fuel adjustment charges on a petition filed by Gulshan Spinning Mills and other industrial units against WAPDA and others, challenging the recovery of fuel adjustment charges for the past months by retrospective billing. However the court on Thursday vacated the stay and allowed WAPDA to collect the charges from industrial consumers while giving relief to small domestic consumers by fixing a limit for starting fuel charges.
The petitioners for industrial units said they had paid electricity bills for the months of April and May, but respondents, including WAPDA, acting retrospectively added 20 percent amount as fuel adjustment charges for the months of April and May in the bill of October. The petitioners contended that the bills for the past months (April, May) had been paid, and that it had become a close and past transaction.
how it possible that one industrial consumer purchase electricity without knowing its price and manage cost , in these months heavy loadshedding exists , is it possible for me to collect my previous cost from my buyers, . this is simply injustice pepco increase price in future to recover losses.
u r right
this is not only injustice but nonosense.This is rubbish.already a poor person is under a lot of stress and paying more then what is not his share is non sense but yaar this is pakistan any thing can happen here.they may tripple your bills what can u do but who all are involved in uplifting the prices must be dealt with strongly.No worries to BIG Guns as they dont pay the bills how much it is increased.But the RESPONSIBLE should be fired for this .Shame to all who do it without any thinkinig . PEPCO is responsible. may ALLAH give us Leaders who can lead us and not led by us
Zulam ki intiha hai
102 unit = Electricity bill Rs 468/-
Fuel adjustment = Rs 3000/-
Total bill = Rs 3500/-
where to go for justice
Ya Allah hum par rahem furma
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