JI warns of strike if commercial tax through electricity bills not withdrawn

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Wednesday warned K-Electric (KE) and the government that if the taxation of up to Rs6,000 imposed on shops through electricity bills was not withdrawn, the party would intensify the ongoing protest in the city.

He stated this while addressing a protest camp at the K-Electric head office against the decision. The presidents of traders’ organisations from across the city also addressed the protestors. Carrying placards and posters inscribed with their demands, the protestors chanted slogans against the KE and government.

While addressing the protestors, Rehman announced that a protest against the unjust decision would be held on Thursday (today) at 50 different places in the city. He also announced that a strike call would be given and long sit-ins would be held in the days to come and details in this regard will be shared with the media after consultation with the traders’ organisations.

He said the traders were always ready to pay reasonable taxes, but this excessive taxation and its inclusion in electricity bills would not be tolerated. He also made it clear that the traders’ community would not pay the electricity bills until and unless the KE and the government separate the utility bills and the taxation.

Rehman announced that the KE would have to face public anger if the company attempted to cut off the power supply or imposed a fine for the nonpayment of bills by traders. He said the traders’ community and the chamber of commerce and industries were open for talks with the government.

He asked the KE high-ups to show if the Federal Board of Revenue had issued any orders to recover the additional tax, adding that the KE had no right to become a self-proclaimed facilitator for the most controversial tax deduction scheme. He demanded of the government to shun the discrimination against the traders’ community and also recover taxation from the feudal lords belonging to the ruling elite class.