A spokesman of Punjab Finance Department says that the viewpoint of Governor Punjab regarding the role of Punjab Government in circular debt is not based on facts, saying that the net payable amount by Punjab government to Pepco is only Rs 3.1 billion whereas the other provincial governments owed Rs 76.1 billion including an amount of Rs 49.1bn by government of Sindh to Pepco.
The spokesman said that the position of outstanding electricity dues payable by Punjab Government was reviewed in a meeting of the committee constituted by the Federal Government on recovery of electricity dues by provinces held on 11.02.2012 in which the position of payment of outstanding electricity dues by Punjab Government was viewed as "satisfactory" by representatives of Pepco and Federal Government.
The spokesman said that after deducting the amount payable by Pepco to Punjab Government on account of Electricity Duty collected by it on behalf of Punjab Government, the net payable amount by Punjab government is only Rs 3.1 billion. On the other hand, he said the other provincial governments have a balance of Pepco outstanding dues equivalent to Rs 76.1 billion including an amount of Rs 49.1 billion payable by Government of Sindh whereas an amount of Rs 6.5 billion is payable by Federal Government against its Departments/Ministries
He said that Punjab Government is the first Provincial Government which has authorized Pepco and its distribution companies to disconnect electricity connections of Government Offices except hospitals, jails and important offices such as Provincial Assembly, Governor Secretariat and Chief Minister Secretariat and this policy has been evolved to ensure timely payment of electricity dues by the Government departments.
The new policy has helped further increase rate of payment of electricity dues by Punjab Government departments. The policy was appreciated by the Ministry of Finance and other provincial governments have been directed to adopt the policy and issue similar instructions to their respective supply companies The spokesman said that the Government has provided sufficient resources to all its agencies/offices to be able to make payment of electricity dues in time. The allocation would enable the departments to make payment of all their reconciled electricity dues by the close of the current financial year.
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