Court restrains IESCO from taking action against consumers

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has restrained the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) from taking punitive action against commercial consumers, who have challenged a tariff surcharge being imposed by the Ministry of Energy and the power supplier from a back date.

During the proceeding, the petitioners’ counsel told the court that the IESCO was charging the tariff from July 1 despite the fact a notification of the revised rates was promulgated on July 26, which has been challenged.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq issued a two-page verdict stating that the concerns were raised by industrialists against the sudden implementation of the revised tariff rates from July 1.

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In response to the legal challenge, the Attorney General for Pakistan has been served a notice for the upcoming court hearing. The court has also issue a notice to the Ministry of Energy, IESCO, and other relevant parties.

The verdict said that the petitioners had challenged the notification issued by the Ministry of Energy regarding the tariff increase effective from July 26.

The petitioners’ counsel contends that the notification cannot be retroactively applied, and as such, the new rates should not be enforced from July 1 to July 25.

The petitioners’ counsel argued that the implementation of the tariff increase from July 26 cannot be retrospectively extended to cover the period from July 26 to July 25 for recovery.

The IHC has issued an order restraining the IESCO from carrying out punitive actions against consumers in relation to revenue collection until the matter is adjudicated.