APTMA censures power surcharge, demands zero rating

LAHORE: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), while censuring the tariff rationalization surcharge, has demanded zero rating electricity as it cannot share the burden of system inefficiencies.
Chairman APTMA S M Tanveer said the electricity tariff for the textile industry has been raised to Rs14.5 per kilowatt hour from Rs9 per kilowatt hour in May 2013. The average electricity tariff of textile industry in the region is not more than Rs10 per kilowatt, he added.
The National Electricity Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) had determined the tariff at Rs9.44 per kilowatt in fiscal year 2014-15 and the industry took it as a big ray of hope, he said. However, the government jacked it up to Rs12.20 and Rs18.00 for off peak and peak hours with the introduction of ‘tariff rationalization surcharge’ by accumulating various taxes, levies and inefficiency incidentals to it.
This single move has brought the weighted average again to the tune of 14.5 per kilowatt hour, he said, adding that the export oriented textile industry cannot pass it on to the international buyers.
Tanveer said the incidental impact of taxes, levies and surcharges has a multiplier effect of 15 percent on the value of exportable products. “It is proving as a death-knell for textile industry in Pakistan,” he added.
The exports of fabric have already registered a record decline of 30 percent in quantity during the current financial year, he lamented.
Chairman APTMA urged the government to ensure zero rating of all incidentals and reimbursements against the export proceeds from yarn to fabric.
He further said the government should announce a special textile industry tariff that is free of all inefficiencies.