LHC issues notices to Pepco, Wapda

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court issued notices to the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and the Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf on Friday regarding a petition challenging the six per cent fuel adjustment surcharge in electricity bills.

The petition was moved by Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi of the Save Judiciary Committee, and stated that the six per cent fuel surcharge was unconstitutional, as was an additional burden on consumers who were already suffering due to power outages and inflated bills. Counsel for the petitioner Barrister Farooq Hassan said the government had been eager to collect the unlawful surcharge from the public, and had announced that it would collect the surcharge in April when it actually added it in February’s.

He asked the court to set aside the fuel adjustment surcharge in electricity bills and declare it illegal and unconstitutional. Justice Umar Ata Bandial directed the respondents to file their replies by April 29. However, he turned down the counsel’s request to halt the fuel surcharge immediately.