The federal government has decided to provide relief on electricity bills for people living in flood-affected areas. This decision comes as Pakistan faces its second major monsoon flood in three years, which has claimed over 900 lives and displaced more than a million people.
Federal Minister for Food Security, Rana Tanveer Hussain, announced to Geo News that taxes on the electricity bills of flood-hit households would be waived immediately. He explained that while the federal government would provide relief on electricity charges, provincial governments would be responsible for waiving land revenue. The minister also stated that authorities would address cases of inflated bills that were issued before the floods occurred.
According to sources, the proposals for tax waivers include:
Abolition of the General Sales Tax (GST)
Waiving of the Financing Cost (FC) surcharge
Removal of fixed charges
Elimination of sales tax and excise duty on fuel price adjustments
Removal of income tax, additional and surplus taxes, and retailer sales tax
In addition to relief on electricity bills, the government is also planning a farmers’ package. Rana Tanveer said that a survey of flood-affected regions is expected to be completed by mid-September, with preliminary data showing that between 1% and 3% of every crop has been damaged. The Gujranwala division has been the hardest hit, with up to 18% of crops destroyed, and rice fields have suffered the heaviest overall damage.
