Karachi traders have blocked Muhammad Ali (M.A.) Jinnah Road to protest against the collection of Rs6,000 additional Sales Tax from electricity bills on Monday. According to details, the traders have staged a protest near Tibet Centre at M.A. Jinnah Road against the ‘illegal’ collection of additional Sales Tax from electricity bills.“The government forced the business community to take the streets,” the traders said, threatening the government to close their businesses if the Rs6,000 levy was not removed from the power bills.

Protesting traders said that they are already paying Sales Tax on the electricity bills. “Unfortunately, closed shops are now levied to pay an extra Sales Tax of at least Rs6,000,” they added. Earlier, the K Electric spokesperson clarified that the company has no objections to removing the general sales tax (GST) on the electricity bills which was announced by the federal government in the current fiscal year’s budget for all power distribution companies. The spokesperson clarified that the company respects the business community and is standing side-by-side with them. K-Electric will immediately enforce the amendment in the order related to the tax.

Credit:
Independent News Pakistan-INP