KESC stopped from recovering Rs four billion from KWSB

The Federal Government has asked the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) not to recover Rs 4 billion outstanding dues from Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB).
Sources told Business Recorder on Saturday that caretaker Finance Minister Dr Salman Shah has issued directive to the officials of KESC recovery department to curtail the recovery campaign against KWSB. They said that the decision has been made as KWSB has worked out its outstanding dues of Rs 35.357 billion against 17 federal government departments and had issued notices to all defaulter departments to pay their outstanding dues soon, or else the Board would take stern action against them.
The statistics report of defaulter government departments has also been sent to Islamabad with a view to facilitate KWSB in dues collection from these departments, sources added.
The defaulter departments are Pakistan Steel Mills, Clifton Cantonment Board, GE Maintenance, Karsaz, AG Navy South, G.E Air Faisal Base, A.G Navy East, G.E Air Malir, Malir Cantonment Board, Pakistan International Airline (PIA), G.E Air Masroor Base, G.E Air Korangi base, G.E Navy Hub River Road, Korangi Cantonment Board, A.G Navy PNS Mehran, Karachi Shipyard and Site Limited, they said.
"After viewing the report, the federal government issued directives to all federal government departments, corporations and other agencies, to pay at least 50 percent of the outstanding dues of KWSB, in the first phase", sources said.
Despite the directive of the federal government, the defaulters have failed to pay 50 percent of outstanding dues, sources said, and added that the defaulter departments were demanding of the Ministry of Finance to provide funds for clearing KWSB outstanding water charges.
However, it was decided by the high-ups of KWSB in a meeting that payment of pending dues of KESC would not be possible unless the Board would recover its outstanding bills from defaulter federal agencies. Hence, the board started stern recovery campaign against defaulters, they said.
Therefore, the Ministry of Finance has stopped KESC from recover its outstanding electricity charges from KWSB aimed to minimise pressure of KWSB on defaulter departments besides decelerating the pace of recovery campaign against them.
It may be mentioned that a delegation of KESC officials had earlier met Mustafa Kamal, Chairman, KWSB, to discuss the issues of outstanding dues for his consideration. KESC officials informed KWSB chairman that the corporation could take stern actions including the cut of power supply to the board, if the dues were not paid and demanded board to pay 25 percent amount of pending dues, which was Rs one billion in order to continue uninterrupted supply to the board.