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Amid the excessive rise in fuel cost adjustment (FCA) charges on electricity bills, numerous people took to the streets on Monday and gathered in front of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company office in Saidu Sharif, holding banners and placards in angst.
Due to the imposition of taxes on energy bills, residents of Amankot, Faizabad, Rahimabad, Saidu Sharif, Gul Kada, Panr and other suburbs of Mingora marched from their respective areas and held protests and subsequently marched towards the Swat Press Club where their leaders, including local government members, claimed the current month's bills were heavily laden with FCA and other taxes, reported Dawn. "My actual electricity bill, the cost of the units consumed, is Rs 2,000, but the overall bill goes up to over Rs 6,500, including FCA and other taxes. I am a day labourer and don't have enough money to pay the huge bill," said Izhar Ali, a resident of Amankot. Another person, Abdul Khaliq, a resident of the Miangano Cham area, said his salary was Rs 18,000 and received an electricity bill of Rs 21,000 with over Rs 10,000 FCA as he condemned the inflation in energy bills. Moreover, the agitators said Swat was a tax-free zone, and collection of any tax from people was illegal as a result of which they staged a demonstration against the imposition of FCA and other taxes in power bills. According to Dawn, the consumers belonging to 20 union councils of Razaar tehsil gathered in Shewa Adda, holding electricity bills in their hands and chanting slogans against the government. The protestors also blocked the Swabi-Mardan Road as the officials of the PESCO office refused to meet the charged protesters. Some consumers tore up their power bills. The protesters demanded of the federal government to withdraw the FCA from their power bills. Pakistan had cut fuel oil imports since the second half of 2018 as LNG prices were low, but it had to at times switch back to oil since July 2021 because of sky-high LNG prices. Tenders for July were scrapped due to high price, and low participation as the nation is already taking action to tackle widespread blackouts. The fast depletion of the foreign exchange reserves was the result of Pakistan's inflation of twin deficits, and a lack of foreign currency inflows. Inflation in Pakistan entered the double-digit mark in July, the biggest surge in nearly six years.(ANI)
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