ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) called upon the government to pass on the full reduction in electricity tarif f approved on account of fuel price adjustment.

The approved per unit reduction is Rs2.62 and the chamber demanded that the total reduction of Rs11 billion should be passed on to the consumers and not be withheld to settle gas receivables and circular debt dues.

In a meeting with representatives of various markets of Islamabad, ICCI President Muzzamil Hussain Sabri said NEPRA has taken a good initiative by approving reduction of Rs2.62 per unit in power tariff for the month of April on account of monthly fuel price adjustment.

`But the government has decided to withhold 76 paisa per unit out of this relief to recover gas infrastructure development cess (GIDC) and circular debt dues, which is unfortunate as it will deprive power consumers of substantial relief,` he said.

Mr Sabri said consumers did not play a role in the accumulation of circular debt but they are being forced to pay for the inefficiency of the power sector officials, which is unjust.

He said the government has already collected Rs94 billion as GIDC which has not been utilised and wants to take another Rs145 billion from consumers on account of this cess for the outgoing financial year. This is in spite of no gas infrastructure development taking place for the Iran-Pakistan or Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline projects, he said.

The ICCI president criticised the government for not doing enough to reduce load shedding, as result thousands of people are protesting on the streets and trade and industry is also suffering.

He said hydropower is a sustainable, renewable, clean, low cost and indigenous source of electricity and stressed that the government should make all possible efforts to tap Pakistan`s hydropower potential. `By doing so, the country would be able to get rid of load shedding and business and industrial activities could flourish,` he said.