Businessmen express concern over inflated electricity bills

Cost of production has become unsustainable for businesses: FCCI.

FAISALABAD:

Business, trade circles and domestic consumers expressed concerns on electricity overbilling/overcharging by the distribution company.

In a press statement issued, Mian Zahid Aslam, president of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that distribution company was indulging in frequent overbilling/overcharging not only to business and trade houses and industrial consumers but also to domestic consumers. He said that these sectors were already under pressure due to the frequent hikes in electricity tariff.

He said overbilling and overcharging was hugely disconcerting for low income bracket. He also said that small entrepreneurs running the cottage industry and power loom units and domestic consumers do not earn enough to feed the wrongly prepared bills by the distribution company.

He further said that the industrial manufacturers were feeling the heat of overbilling and overcharging as their cost of production had increased and they were unable to market their products at competitive rates.

Aslam said that electricity tariff in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and China were comparatively lower than Pakistan hence, they were able to produce goods at lower cost. Resultantly, Pakistani exporters were losing market share in export markets and the national economy was deprived of precious foreign exchange. He urged the distribution company to immediately take action against the wrong billing and provide relief to the consumers.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2012.