The Lahore High Court (LHC) suspended on Monday the recovery of fuel adjustment surcharge for the months of April and May from another 35 industrial units and factories.
Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan passed the orders on identical petitions filed by Al-Madeena Steel Mills and others, making the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) respondents. The petitioners submitted through their counsels that electricity was one of the largest single components, which alone constituted 50 percent of their total cost of production, therefore even minor fluctuations in the electricity price affected the cost of production heavily.
The petitioners stated further that they had paid electricity bills for the month of April, May and June but the respondents, acting retrospectively, had added a 20 percent fuel adjustment surcharge for April and May to the bill for October. They stated that the respondent electric companies took the action on the basis of two notifications issued by the federal government on August 23, 2011 under the added proviso S 31(4) of the Regulation, Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act of 1997. They stated that the provision was an addition, since it was not in the original act.
They contended that according to the law, no notification having adverse financial impact could be issued retrospectively. The petitioners contended that the bills for April and May had been paid, therefore it was a closed and past transaction and the respondents were not authorised to receive fuel adjustment surcharge for the months in question. They requested the court to set aside the surcharge and the notification issued in this regard besides restraining the respondents from any adverse action against them. After hearing the arguments, the court suspended the recovery of the fuel adjustment surcharge for the months of April and May and sought a reply from the respondents within three weeks.
