- The Minister of Power writes to the chief ministers of all the provinces.
- Seeking support in the abolition of complexity resulting from several taxes.
- Move to make invoices more transparent, easier to understand.
Islamabad: The federal government has decided to abolish provincial electricity duties on electricity bills from July 1 and officially informed all provincial decision -making ministers.
The Federal Minister of Power Awais Leghari wrote a letter to the main ministers of all the provinces, informing them of the federal government’s decision to scratch the duty of electricity and to explore “alternative mechanisms” for the collection of provincial samples and duties.
In the letter – a copy of which is available with Geo NewsThe Minister asked for the support of all the chiefs of provincial management in the elimination of complexity resulting from multiple charges, taxes and rights which are collected through consumption invoices.
He said that high electricity prices are already an important challenge, and the additional burden of various samples further complicates the billing structure, which makes consumers difficult to understand and manage their electricity costs.
Leghari, in his letter, underlined the efforts of the federal government concerning various measures to reduce power prices, in particular in renegotiation of independent electricity producer contracts (IPP), by reducing the return to equity (ROE) for public power stations belonging to the government and by implementing other structural reforms.
“In parallel, we also undertake to simplify electricity bills so that they mainly reflect the real cost of energy consumption rather than serving as a collection mechanism for various additional costs,” he added.
The Minister urged provincial governments to explore alternative mechanisms for the collection of provincial statements and homework, rather than relying on electricity bills as a collection channel.
He expressed his confidence that this decision will not only make electricity bills more transparent and easier to understand, but will also ensure that “consumers only pay the cost of electricity, rather than a mixture of other costs”.
The Minister of Energy also requested the cooperation of all the ministers in chief in the identification and implementation of alternative income collection methods will contribute to this initiative a success.