KE electric consumers will now be able to pay their municipal taxes through their monthly bills.
Karachi: K-Electric has submitted the agreement related to the collection of municipal taxes with the electric company in the Sindh High Court.
According to the report submitted by K-Electric in response to the petition against the collection of municipal charges in electricity bills, the agreement has been submitted to the Sindh High Court. It was stated in the report that the Sindh High Court had directed on March 28th that an agreement regarding the collection of municipal charges between K-Electric and KE be submitted, along with some documents including the notification issued by the Chief Secretary on June 16, 2008, utility bills, electricity bills, and municipal taxes.
According to the agreement between K-Electric and KE, KE has appointed a collecting agent for the collection of municipal charges. The municipal charges will be collected from KE electric consumers through their monthly bills, with 7% of the total municipal charges being deducted. In addition, KE will deduct some amount from the collected municipal charges for its obligatory electricity bills, and the remaining amount will be transferred to KE’s account.
The agreement states that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and K-Electric have a contract allowing KMC to collect controversial Municipal Utility Charges and Taxes (MUCT) for KMC, in a manner that power utility can deduct a significant portion of it. The remaining monthly collection from K-E will also include deductions for KE’s obligatory electricity bills.
The agreement also mentions that if K-Electric loses control over the processing of any bill due to any reason, the power utility will not be liable for timely payments. KE will correct and include any erroneously collected taxes into its accounts.
Regarding the termination of the agreement, it states that the power utility has the right to terminate the contract by giving a 30-day written notice without specifying any reason. The next hearing for the request will be held on April 24th.
In 2022, the counsel for K-Electric had informed the court during the previous hearing that the government needs to follow the rules of the contract, and K-E cannot nominate KE to collect the MUCT through electricity bills. Under the relevant laws, KE cannot use its coercive powers for the collection of such taxes.
Furthermore, in September 2022, through an interim order, the High Court had halted the collection of MUCT through electricity bills.