Pak: Local businessmen slam government for high electricity, gas tariffs

Karachi [Pakistan] August 7 : Local businessmen in Pakistan slammed the Pakistan government for high electricity tariffs and gas bills, adding that the government needs to urgently tackle the issue.
Pakistani people, who were already suffering from economic problems, are now stuck with another major issue related to tariffs on electricity and gas.
Reportedly, last month the Shehbaz Sharif-led government increased the base tariff of electricity for domestic consumers by PKR 48.84. This has triggered major protests in Karachi against the Pakistani government. A similar protest has been continuing since July 27 in Rawalpindi highlighting the issue of electricity prices.
A local businessman from Karachi, Shaikh Habib expressed his frustration and anger against rising electricity and gas bills.
He said "We call Karachi, mini Pakistan where people from each part of Pakistan come for livelihood, this city generates around 70 per cent of revenue for the central government and 90 to 95 per cent for the Sindh government. Despite all this, it is our misfortune that 25 crore people of Pakistan are badly affected by these bills."
Habib said that there was a time when Independent Power Producers (IPP) entered the market, and now crores of rupees are being invested in closed projects.
"The government has started accusing foreign players of this price rise. The government forgets that those foreign players have long exited the market, and now they are the only ones who are running the system," he said, adding that they are the ones who are solely responsible.
"So they are the only ones who are responsible for the high-priced electricity," he added.
Habib further said that the government need to urgently tackle this issue, otherwise, people will start coming to the streets.
"A person who is earning around 35 to 40 thousand in Pakistan currently, can't afford to pay these bills at any cost. The Pakistan government should be ashamed that they still didn't understand that 12 crore people of our countrymen are living below the poverty line. Amongst them are around eight crore people who are just having one meal a day. If they bring these rules, then slowly crimes and violence will start increasing. The government need to urgently tackle this issue, otherwise imagine if people start coming to the streets, imagine what happens in this situation," he said.
The trader further recommended that the electricity department could refund the overbilled consumer but changing the entire government is not the solution to rectify their mistakes of increasing the prices on bills. "Political representatives should stop playing their red carpet-game," he said.