The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has demanded of the authorities to establish Lesco Help Desk at the LCCI premises to address the over billing complaints of the business community. LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz said the LCCI had received a number of complaints about over billing and the business community is quite disturbed. A LESCO Help Desk at the LCCI would certainly reduce their miseries, he added.
He said that the LCCI had already invited the attention of the authorities towards the inefficiencies in the power sector. He said that the country is already facing multiple challenges and such troubles would hamper GDP growth. He said that besides controlling line losses and electricity theft, the government would also have to chalk out a plan to convert oil based power generators to coal and other alternative fuels.
He said that Pakistan has become the only non-oil producing country in the world where bulk of the electricity is being produced through oil run power generators that has kept the energy rates volatile to the extent that it is fast crushing the economic activity. "With unjustified huge over billing, our electricity tariff is already double what the regional countries are offering to their trade and industries leaving Pakistan totally uncompetitive in the international market place," he mentioned.
He said that the country has already lost a number of international markets to China, Bangladesh and India due to high cost of doing business and the decision to increase power tariff would make the Pakistani goods more uncompetitive. The business community is unable to understand that instead of taking measures to control line losses and enhance cheap power generation up to capacity, the policies are being evolved to add to the miseries of the business doing people. LCCI president urged the government to initiate reforms in the power sector and demanded of the Lesco authorities to establish a Help Desk at the LCCI without any delay.
Comments
Comments are closed.