Govt announces relief in power bills for flood-affected citizens

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has announced plans to provide relief in electricity bills for residents of flood-affected areas, with several tax waivers under active consideration.

Federal Minister for Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain, in remarks to Geo News, said that taxes on the electricity bills of households in flood-hit regions would be waived immediately. He explained that while the federal government would grant relief on electricity charges, provincial governments would be responsible for waiving land revenue.

The minister added that inflated bills already printed in flood-affected areas would also be reviewed. He stressed that every possible measure would be taken to reduce the financial strain on affected citizens.

Tanveer said that once surveys of flood-affected regions are completed, the government will announce a farmers’ package. He explained that the survey is expected to be finished by the middle of this month and that preliminary data on crop losses has already been compiled.

According to the minister, between 1% and 3% of every crop has been damaged by the floods, with the Gujranwala division suffering the most severe blow, up to 18% of crops destroyed. He added that rice fields had taken the heaviest damage overall.

Sources said the proposals include abolition of the general sales tax, the Financing Cost (FC) surcharge and fixed charges on electricity bills. The government is also weighing the removal of sales tax and excise duty on fuel price adjustment, alongside eliminating income tax, additional and surplus taxes, and retailer sales tax from the bills.

The proposal comes as the country reels from its second catastrophic monsoon flooding in three years.

Since late June, over 900 people have died, more than 1,400 villages have been inundated in Punjab, and over one million residents have been displaced, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).