The Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday expressed serious concern over escalating circular debt which, once again, reached Rs 425 billion. The committee meeting held here under the chairmanship of Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah was informed by the officials of the Ministry of Water and Power that there are various reasons behind resurfacing of circular debt.
They said that the government keeps providing subsidies to a number of consumers while multibillion rupees bills are outstanding against various public sector entities, provinces, industries, and commercial and domestic consumers. Briefing the panel, Secretary Ministry of Water and Power Yousaf Naseem Khokhar said that his ministry has no force to compel bill defaulters to pay the outstanding bills, adding that for the purpose the ministry is dependent on law enforcement agencies (LEAs). He said that the ministry over the period sent over 4,000 applications to Sindh Police for registration of FIRs against the electricity thieves, but only 17 out of them were entertained.
He went on saying that now the issue of outstanding power bills against different provincial departments of the Sindh government has been resolved and both the ministry and the provincial government have decided to avoid the resurfacing of outstanding power bills in the future.
He said that millions of rupees electricity bills against SCARP tube wells were not paid and theft of the electricity is also rampant in the province. The secretary also informed the panel that his ministry's receivables from provincial governments, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Federally Administered Tribal Areas are over Rs 500 billion and that is why the circular debt has increased.
Replying to a question raised by Syed Naveed Qamar why level of power load-shedding has reduced during the last one week across the country, the secretary explained that some new projects, good weather conditions in parts of the country and hydel power production enabled the ministry to reduce power load-shedding. He said that all independent power producers (IPPs) are generating electricity in the country at present in accordance with respective capacity and demand. "In case, the IPPs generate less electricity than their generating capacity, they are liable to heavy penalties which are more than the fixed capacity payments," he added. The meeting was told that outstanding dues against Azad Kashmir have reached Rs 78 billion, while Rs 18 billion are due against Fata. Likewise, multibillion rupees are pending against various other consumers, which are also adding to the circular debt.
MNA Sardar Ashiq Hussain Gopang suggested the ministry to improve bill recoveries and avoid posting officers in their native areas as even the utmost honest officer can't avoid favouring his own people. The secretary Ministry of Water and Power agreed to the proposal and said that the ministry is already implementing the policy as a result recoveries in past two years have improved.
MNA Pervez Malik asked the ministry to develop a viable power supply plan for the industrial sector which is complaining of unfavourable business environment. The ministry officials replied that the government is considering multiple options in this regard as exports are backbone of the national economy. The panel directed the ministry officials to make more detailed presentation about power sector for the next meeting as a number of core questions asked by the members remained unanswered.
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