Islamabad:

A Senate Panel was told on Friday that the provincial governments have not yet paid RS161 billion, which they owe the federal government of electricity taxes.

The Senate’s Standing Power Committee convened Friday to discuss key issues, including adjustments to provincial taxes through the National Finance Commission (NFC) and the privatization of power distribution companies (Discos).

During the meeting, the committee chairman, Senator Mohsin Aziz, said the provinces claim that the federal government has not cleared pending taxes.

Power Division -Officers stated that the provincial governments had not paid a total of RS161 billion. Punjab owes the federal government RS42 billion; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, RS10 Billion; Sindh, RS68 billion and Balochistan, RS42 billion.

The officials clarified that the amount is for power supplied to provincial departments, while federal quota may relate to hydeletstrom’s adjustments.

Minister of Power Awais Leghari said the case was recently discussed with the Ministry of Finance and that he has written to all provincial chief ministers for the quota settlement.

Leghari informed the committee that after the reconstitution of discos has been reduced by RS140 billion from March and added that the government has insured the IMF of its commitment to privatizing the discos.

“The government’s role is not to run power distribution companies. The goal is to privatize all discos within the next three years. In the first phase, three discos will be privatized. A financial advisor is already working on the process and has submitted a Due Diligence report,” he said.

Leghari expressed confidence that the privatization of the three companies will be completed within the next six months, although the committee chairman noted that it may be by June next year.