Hazifa Jamshed
Lahore: The electricity bills have made life difficult for the people, due to the increasing cost of electricity day by day, the bills have become more than the income.
Due to continuous hikes in the basic tariff, the basic electricity tariff has reached an average of Rs 35.50 per unit while the surcharges have doubled the prices. The average consumer is getting a bill of at least 10,000 to 20,000 rupees.
Apart from the basic electricity tariff, 18 percent GST, Rs 3.41 finance surcharge, Rs 3.32 for quarterly adjustment and Rs 3.32 for fuel price adjustment for the current month are also payable while GST is payable on fuel price adjustment. And a PTV fee of Rs.35 is also charged.
Citizens have termed such expensive electricity and surcharges as a robbery on the pockets and said that where is the justice to impose GST twice on the electricity bill. People have also demanded to make electricity cheaper.
Along with expensive electricity, the cycle of protected and non-protected consumers has also made the public cry. As soon as one unit increases from 200 units, becoming a non-protected customer will more than double the price, which will have to be paid for six consecutive months. The basic tariff of the protected user is Rs 14 16 paise, but as soon as one unit is overused, the customer will have to pay Rs 23 59 paise per unit.
