Delaying decisions: PHC extends stay against fuel adjustment charges

In February last year, around 72 industrial units in K-P challenged the collection.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has extended the stay order on the collection of fuel adjustment charges in the monthly utility bills of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) consumers till the next hearing, the date for which has not yet been announced.

A two-member bench of Justice Nisar Hussain and Justice Musarrat Hilali was hearing the case of fuel adjustment; but the bench was informed that the said case was being heard by Chief Justice (CJ) Dost Muhammad Khan, who ordered for the charges to be stopped.

On October 29, a division bench of CJ Khan and Justice Qaiser Rashid extended the stay order for collection of fuel adjustment surcharges till November 28. The bench also sought details from Advocate General (AG) Abdul Latif Yousafzai on whether the matter was properly raised in Council of Common Interests meetings.

Federal Ministry for Water and Power’s Counsel, Advocate Naeem Bukhari told the court in the last hearing that various companies who filed the petition at PHC were against the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority order, which declared the collection of such surcharges as legal on December 9, 2011.

Shumail Ahmad Butt, representing various companies who filed the petition, had told the court that K-P is provided Rs6 billion annually in net profit, which is not enough. He said the burden of electricity produced at the cost of Rs34 per unit is also put on the shoulders of residents.

AG Yousafzai told the court the provincial government considered the collection of fuel adjustment surcharges to be illegal. “On one hand, we already have a precarious law and order situation to deal with; on the other huge bills in shape of these surcharges are received.

In February last year, around 72 industrial units of K-P challenged the collection of fuel adjustment charges in their monthly bills, saying as the province produces electricity and supplies it to other provinces, it should be exempted.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2013.