LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has expressed deep concern over the multi-fold increase in electricity prices, over-billing, exorbitant taxes on electricity, nationwide protests against them and has urged the government to cut the electricity prices instead of remaining silent otherwise it can be a precursor to civil disobedience.
In a statement, LCCI President Kashif Anwar, Senior Vice President Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry and Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt said that the recent electricity bills have left the industry, trade and people in a lurch.
They said that nationwide protests against over-billing, illegal tax hikes and multi-fold increase in electricity prices can lead to civil disobedience and an economically distressed country cannot afford such circumstances.
LCCI office-bearers said that of providing free electricity and stopping electricity theft, the government has increased the electricity prices many times which is a sheer injustice. They said that the majority of people have been sent bills many times more than their monthly income due to which people are being forced to commit suicides.
They demanded that the facility of free electricity for all segments should be withdrawn immediately as the country, facing economic challenges and enormous debt burden, cannot afford to provide such facilities. They said that no tax should be levied on electricity bills up to 300 units.
They said that electricity is the main raw material of industries, if such anti-industry measures are not avoided, the manufacturing sector will be completely destroyed and the country will remain only a trading place. They said that despite the increase in electricity prices by several hundred percent, the circular debt could not be controlled, while the energy crisis has also become worst, due to which the industrial production has come to the lowest level.
The LCCI office-bearers said that the cost of electricity in Pakistan is already very high compared to other countries in the region. He said that since electricity is an important raw material for industries, Pakistani products will be completely out of competition in the international market. They said that the country has already lost much of the global market to China, Bangladesh and India due to high production costs. They said that more burdens are being put on those customers who are paying their dues regularly and whose line losses are least.
The LCCI President said that the trend of theft will increase due to the increase in electricity prices. The business community is unable to understand why instead of controlling line losses and increasing generation of cheap power, their problems are being compounded. They said that the growth rate of the manufacturing sector should be eye-catching for the policy makers but they are stagnant to correct the situation. They urged the government to take immediate notice of the situation and announce an immediate reduction in electricity prices.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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