LAHORE – In a major development, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday stayed fix charges on the electricity bills.
Justice Muhammad Raza Qureshi of the LHC passed the order on a petition filed against the fixed charges on the electricity bills.
A local citizen filed the petition through Advocate Khawaja Waseem Abbas before the court, and made the federal government, LESCO and others as respondents.
He contended that LESCO imposed fixed charges on electricity bills without obtaining the necessary approval. The petitioner submitted that the approval from the Cabinet and NEPRA is mandatory for imposing such charges.
He further argued that LESCO sent a bill of PKR 3.2 million without any electricity usage, PKR 5.7 million last month and PKR 15.6 million this month. He asked the court to order the removal of these fixed charges.
The court later stayed against imposition of fixed charges on the electricity bills.
Electricity bills got increased for general public as fixed charges were added to bills with effect from July 1, 2024, as per the media reports.
The approval for the fixed charges was granted by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) as the move aimed at increasing the revenue generation of electricity distribution companies.
The reports said the fixed charges would not be collected from the consumers using up to 200 units per month while those consuming 301-400 units would pay R200 in wake of fixed charges.
Those consuming 401-500 units per month would pay Rs400 while those fall in 501-600 bracket would pay Rs600 in wake of fixed charges.
Similarly, the distribution companies would collect Rs800 from those consuming 601-700 units per month while there would be Rs1,000 fixed charges on consumption of electricity units above Rs700.
The consumers would pay the fixed charges in electricity bills for the month of July.
Pakistan increases electricity prices for June, July and August 2024
