PHC declares collection of fuel adjustment charges in electricity bills illegal

Court orders the amount recovered in bills to be returned.

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday declared the collection of fuel adjustment charges (FAC) in monthly electricity bills from consumers of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa illegal and ordered the amount recovered in bills to be returned.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice (CJ) Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Nisar Hussain Khan issued the orders while hearing petitions filed by over 72 industrial units of the province.

Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco) lawyer Abdul Rauf Rohail informed the bench the Islamabad High Court and Sindh High Court had already upheld the levy. He added Pesco pays FAC to the federal government which cost them Rs60 billion so far, but they remain unable to collect the levy from consumers.

Shomail Ahmad Bhutt, lawyer for the industrial units, informed the court that K-P produces electricity at a cost of Rs1.3 but the federal government sells it at the cost of Rs14 which is “an injustice”.

Bhutt also said consumers in K-P are not using electricity generated from fuel and so charging them FAC is not fair.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2013.