Chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board and National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, as well as former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain has warned that the risk of confrontation between the public and electricity companies is increasing due to exorbitant bills. Talking to business community on Wednesday, he said that people now have to pay electricity bills that exceed their income, leading to quarrels in their homes. Mian Zahid Hussain said that inflated bills were breaking relationships, and people were shedding blood over it. He claimed that capacity payments were penalizing the general public and the industrial sector. Public anxiety and agitation could spiral out of control at any time, so the government should act quickly to stabilize the situation, he warned. The business leader stated that the elites and the government own 80 percent of the IPPs established in the country, receiving far more in dollars than their rightful share. He warned that this plunder of resources should end; otherwise, the country will plunge into lawlessness and will soon become bankrupt. Mian Zahid Hussain said that the government can do a lot in this regard.

The Prime Minister has also issued directives to lower the cost of electricity for industries, yet a permanent solution to the losses and capacity payments in the electricity sector remains unattainable. He stressed that the government's non-developmental expenditures are skyrocketing, making it impossible to fool the people as they perceive everything. The business leader said that following violent incidents, the power tariff has been reduced in some areas, implying that those living in other areas should also resort to violence for relief. According to him, forty percent of people have already fallen below the poverty line, and more are falling below it. If the government fails to correct the economy's direction and arrange a fair distribution of wealth, it will not only impact the people but also the upper classes, who will struggle with insufficient resources for their princely lifestyle. Mian Zahid Hussain added, "If the IPPs agreement was not a mistake, why is the country and nation suffering a loss of two thousand billion rupees annually, and why is this money only reaching a few people?" He stated that it's crucial to conduct a forensic audit of IPPs, noting that some individuals have profited greatly from the looting, and it's now time to put an end to it.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan