Bashir Hussain Azad
CHITRAL: A local court has dismissed a case filed against the collection of fuel price adjustment (FPA) and other taxes in electricity bills in Chitral.
The case was filed by local residents through advocate Waqas Ahmad, seeking to declare the collection of FPA and other taxes from Chitral\’s electricity consumers as illegal.
The chairman of WAPDA, the federal government, and PESCO Chitral were made respondents in the case.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court dismissed the case, stating that declaring taxes illegal does not fall within its jurisdiction.
Advocate Niaz A. Niazi, representing the WAPDA chairman, argued that the Supreme Court had already declared the FPA and other taxes as legal.
He further stated that WAPDA does not charge any rent for electricity meters; instead, a fixed charge of Rs1000 is collected from consumers.
The SDO of PESCO informed the court that the department had launched an app called \”E-Ops\” through which consumers can upload pictures of their meter readings via their mobile phones.