The Sindh cabinet has directed Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with K-Electric to start the collection of two taxes from the citizens of Karachi through their monthly electricity bills.
According to details, KMC wants to increase its tax collection by collecting Fire Tax and Conservancy Tax from the citizens through their monthly K-Electric bills.
For this, it plans to divide the consumer base of K-Electric into two categories while Rs. 100 and Rs. 200 will be charged for both taxes respectively from the two categories.
If the MoU is officially ratified, KMC will collect Rs. 9 billion annually only from Fire Tax and Conservancy Tax. At the moment, KMC hardly collects Rs. 220 million annually on account of the two taxes.
It must be noted that citizens of Karachi are required to pay 13 taxes in total to the KMC. Out of the 13 taxes, KMC will collect only two taxes from the citizens through their monthly electricity bills.
Strong Criticism from Opposition
Terming the development as an additional financial strain on the citizens of Karachi, Opposition Leader Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh, vowed to resist the move of the provincial government and said the opposition will never allow KMC to collect the taxes through KE bills.
Former Mayor Karachi, Waseem Akhtar, slammed the provincial government over the move and suggested KMC to focus on improving its service delivery instead of imposing an extra financial burden on the citizens of Karachi
Solid Waste Tax
In a similar development, the Sindh cabinet has also proposed to collect Solid Waste Tax from the citizens of Karachi through their monthly gas bills.
In this regard, the cabinet has directed the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) to officially write a letter to the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to initiate the collection of the proposed tax.
