KE will not collect KMC taxes at any cost, says Sindh governor

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Sunday, September 19, 2021

KMC should enhance ability to collect taxes instead of choosing the easiest way, says Governor Sindh Imran Ismail

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail. Photo: file


KARACHI: Opposing Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah’s proposal, Governor Imran Ismail has said K-Electric (KE) will not be allowed to collect Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) taxes from Karachiites at any cost, The News reported.

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He made the remarks while speaking to media persons on Saturday after attending the 6th convocation of Isra University's Karachi campus.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had proposed that the KMC's fire and conservancy tax should be collected from Karachi via the KE's monthly billing system for the financial viability of the city’s municipal authority.

The Sindh governor announced that he would oppose the Sindh government;s move to collect KMC's taxes through monthlyelecticity bills.

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He said the Sindh government had apparently chosen the easiest way to collect the municipal taxes by adding them to electricity bills. “A person having the least resources duly pays the electricity bill while fearing that on account of non-payment, electricity could be disconnected,” Ismail said.

He added that instead of choosing the easiest way, the KMC should develop its capacity to collect taxes from the city. “The KE is not a tax collection agency and it should do its core work instead of getting involved in others' work,” the governor maintained.

“I will convey the voice of the people to Prime Minister Imran Khan as this is an attempt to establish a wrong tradition. I am opposed to this proposal and will also ask the prime minister that it shouldn’t happen at any cost,” he said.

Ismail said the KE’s mandate was to supply electricity to Karachi and it was not mandated to do the tax collection work in the city.

To a question, he replied that the media had always highlighted the sorry state of affairs of government-run schools in Sindh as there existed the phenomena of both ghost teachers and ghost schools in the province.

He said that media had also often reported that the premises of the government-run schools in Sindh were being used to accommodate livestock.

The governor expressed the hope that the Sindh government would take serious steps to resolve the flagrant issues of the education sector.

To another question, Ismail said he hoped the Sindh government would seriously look into the allegations of school desks being purchased at exorbitant rates, saying that the deal involved billions of the taxpayers' money.


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