The Lahore High Court here Wednesday extended stay against levy of fuel adjustment surcharge on both domestic and commercial electricity bills to December 22. Besides old petitioners, the court gave relief of stay to hundreds of new petitioners also who approached the court on Wednesday.
National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had issued a notification to impose fuel surcharge on electricity bills and the court restrained it from recovering the surcharge or cutting of electricity connections for non payment of bills. The petitioners submitted that acting retrospectively, Nepra and Lesco are unlawfully recovering fuel adjustment surcharge for the past months.
They said the notification issued by the respondents imposed huge amount in their bills under an unlawfully added proviso to S.31(4) of the Regulation, Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act 1997 (Nepra Act 1997). They said S.31(4) was added in Nepra Act 1997 by amendment for imposing taxes and surcharges for the past months which was not permitted under the law. They prayed to the court to set aside the back dated notification, declaring the amendment as unlawful and unconstitutional.