Press Release

LCCI demands LESCO Help Desk to address over-billing

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has demanded of the authorities to establish LESCO Help Desk at the LCCI premises to address the over billing complaints of the business community.

In a statement issued here, the LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz, Senior Vice President Mian Nauman Kabir and Vice President Syed Mahmood Ghaznavi said that the LCCI had received a number of complaints about over-billing and the business community was quite disturbed. A LESCO Help Desk at the LCCI would certainly reduce their miseries.

They said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry had already invited the attention of the authorities towards the inefficiencies in the power sector. They said that the situation would get out of hands if immediate measures were not taken.

The LCCI office-bearers said that the country was already facing multiple challenges and such troubles would hamper GDP growth.

LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that besides controlling line losses and electricity theft, the government would also have to chalk out a plan to convert oil based power generators to coal and other alternative fuels.

He said that Pakistan has become the only non-oil producing country in the world where bulk of the electricity is being produced through oil run power generators that has kept the energy rates volatile to the extent that it is fast crushing the economic activity.

The LCCI President opined that over billing is bound to increase the incidence of electricity pilferage that already is eating up billion rupees and causing irreparable damage to the economy. .

The LCCI President said that how the industry would remain competitive at such a high price of electricity which is one of the basic industrial raw materials. We already have the highest tariff in our region

With unjustified huge over billing, our electricity tariff is already double what the regional countries are offering to their trade and industries leaving Pakistan totally uncompetitive and unviable in the international market place.

Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that the country had already lost a number of international markets to China, Bangladesh and India due to high cost of doing business and the decision to increase power tariff would make the Pakistani goods more uncompetitive.

He said that the business community was unable to understand that instead of taking measures to control line losses and enhance cheap power generation up to capacity, the policies are being evolved to add to the miseries of the business doing people.

LCCI President urged the government to initiate reforms in the power sector and demanded of the LESCO authorities to establish a Help Desk at the LCCI at the earliest.