ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday stopped government from collecting surcharge on electricity bills in one go and also directed to collect surcharge in installments.
The three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan heard the case over surcharge in electricity bills.
During the course of proceedings, petitioner's counsel Salman Akram Raja told the court that on surcharge payment seemingly appears illegal and that the government had started collecting the arrears after the suspension of the Lahore High Court ruling.
He said that lump-sum payment of arrears is tough and difficult process. He pleaded the court to issue directives and stop payments of surcharge in one go.
The Attorney General told the court that the money received in surcharge would be paid under the head of circular debt.
He said that the government could face problems due to stoppage of surcharge payments and the payment to power distribution companies would freeze. He said that loadshedding can also be increased due to stoppage of payments to power distribution companies.
The court directed the government to collect arrears from the people in the form of installments.
Later, the court adjourned the hearing of the case till third week of August.
Comments
Comments are closed.