Land of flickering lights: Why Pakistan's power woes persist | The Express Tribune
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PUBLISHED August 06, 2023 ISLAMABAD: Riaz lives in a one-room quarter in south Punjab. He is a farmer with a few acres of land and he waits for earnings every six months. He has one ceiling fan alone to endure the scorching summer heat. Yet, he received a bill of Rs 8,000 for one month, he told Express Tribune ; 8,000 for living in just one small room. Around 43 percent of Riaz's total bill was charged as taxes and surcharges. He was paying debt surcharges, financial cost surcharges, federal excise duty, income tax, TV fee and an obscure fee was included under 'other tax' which he never knew about it. The power sector is one of those sectors where owners of power plants continue to flourish while the consumers are buried under the weight of paying dues worth billions of rupees on account of hiking power tariffs. The average national tariff has gone up to around Rs 30 per unit excluding taxes and the impact of fuel price adjustment. The impact of taxes