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Dear ISPAK members
PASHA (software association) wants to file case
with NEPRA...please see if you are interested to do so.
Ateeq Khan
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2002 6:08 PM
Subject: [pashamembers] Re: KESC Industrial rates for Software
houses
Hamza:
This is the response from Ejaz containing all details:
----
The starting point should be to identify the parties who would
approach
NEPRA, and the engagement of counsel by the parties. The
counsel and a lead
rep of the parties would meet NEPRA for an informal
discussion on the
proposed action plan. Befor the meeting, the
following matters would have
to be addressed-
(i) statistics - number of applicants, their load and
consumption
figures, bills paid over (say) the last year, their geographical
distribution, export earnings, comparison chart with other small and medium
industries regarding consumption patterns and revenues generated for WAPDA,
including projected growth;
ii) consumer category details:
load and consumption patterns,
voltages of supply, reliable power
requirements - importantly, comparison
chart of loss for WAPDA if they move
to self-generation (self-generation is
de-regulated - a sensitive issue for
NEPRA and WAPDA), electricity bills as
a percentage of operating costs
(would be useful if an industry average can
be figured out) in comparison
with commercial and industrial consumers with
similar consumption patterns,
revenue reduction for WAPDA if industrial
tariff allowed to the IT industry.
I can explain the relevance and importance of the above if you so like.
Briefly, it is not enough to say that we are an industry and therefore
industrial tariff should apply - if it were, the letters of the Minister
should have sufficed. We have to say why non-application of industrial
tariff, despite Government's categorisation as an industry and therefor
entitlement to all concessions, is discriminatory vis-a-vis other consumer
categories, that is, HOW THE PRINCIPLES OF ELECTRICITY TARIFF DETERMINATIONS
WEIGH IN OUR FAVOUR.
Based on these figures, and data of WAPDA for commercial consumers (which I
will provide from WAPDA tariff petitions to NEPRA from time to time), a
petition would then be prepared with figures to demonstrate our case.
A
financial analyst or Excel wizard would be required to prepare case
scenarios - either the parties could provide him or the counsel can
sub-contract for him.
Procedurally, the petition would be filed with NEPRA alongwith a request for
reduction of petition fee (the latter having been discussed with NEPRA in
the informal meeting). NEPRA in 14 days to admit the petition and then
forward a copy to WAPDA for a reply. WAPDA in 14/21 days to
reply. NEPRA
will fix a date of hearing and the matter will proceed
thereafter as if it
were a case in a Court of law. Legally, NEPRA is
required to decide the
case within six months of filing, but this matter
should not take that long.
Wahaj, you know the legal charges, Rs. 3,500/- per hour for my time and Rs.
2,000/- per hour for my associate's time (two lawyers to deal with this
matter- cost effective to get spade work done by a junior lawyer), with a
20% reduction in the final bill if the number of hours utilised exceeds 100
hours. NEPRA tariff matters are very specialised in nature, and
require
ground work and research which is not main-stream - NEPRA may (and
has in
the past) asked the petitioners to work on different case scenarios -
in the
first tariff petition filed by WAPDA, NEPRA got them to work on and
develop
several scenarios. I could give a cap on the fees after I have
held
preliminary meetings with the clients and looked at the documents and
figures forming the basis of our case- this ground work will be chargeable
at the above rate. I would also be happy to give a legal opinion, but
this
would duplicate the costs, as the parties can have a fairly good idea
of the
strength of their case after a few preliminary meetings and review of
the
scenarios developed in consultation with me.
Best regards,
Ejaz
-----
Ejaz also told me that 'Farmers Association' has filed a petition on similar
grounds to NEPRA and their petition has been admitted. PASHA can become an
'intervener' in this petition. This would save a lot of cost on account of
filing fee to NEPRA. According to Ejaz, this would be down from Rs. 250,000 to a
few thousand rupees. Ejaz has checked unofficially with NEPRA and it's possible
to do this. This also won't effect the PASHA's petition and it would carry same
weight as a seperate petion.
Ejaz is the guy who actually drafted NEPRA's Act and has been their legal
adviser for more than couple years.
Hamza: If this is OK with PASHA, then I can work with Ejaz to get the work
started on this asap.
Best regards....Wahaj
Syed Hamza Matin wrote:
Great speed Wahaj.... Can we have a time and
cost estimate from Mr. Ejaz for pursuing such a venture and a second opinion.
Lets form a group of members who would like to participate. May Wahaj take the
lead and contact Sajjad in Lahore for any support. Anything related to
Islamabad can be coordinated by Mohsin and we (Ateeq, Dr Zahir and Faisal )
are here in Karachi in case anything has to be followed at KESC
level. Now its upto Wahaj to comeup with a concrete plan of action. Feel
free to ask for any assistance. Please see if we can initiate by first calling
on respective authorities or should we go into action rightaway... Good
Luck ! Hamza
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 4:53
PM
Subject: Re: Fw: [pashamembers] Fw:
KESC Industrial rates for Software houses This is what I got from
Ejaz.
Wahaj
Ejaz Khan wrote:
Dear
Wahaj, Please see the
attached.Cheers,Ejaz
----- Original Message -----
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Sent:
Wednesday, January 02, 2002 4:17 PM Subject: Re: [pashamembers] Fw:
KESC Industrial rates for Software houses
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002
1:38 PM
Subject: Re: [pashamembers] Fw:
KESC Industrial rates for Software houses Hamza, Faisal and Wahaj Now lets take a stance and fight it out. They
have many big issues to resolve and this may be a minor issue for them.
If we dont take interest then they are least bothered. Lets contact
somebody like Mr Ejaz and proceed further. Before they think of
something lets do it first. Regards Ateeq
Khan
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002
12:38 PM
Subject: Re: [pashamembers] Fw:
KESC Industrial rates for Software houses Agreed. I suggest
Barrister Ejaz Khan can provide good legal opinion on this (and also
make our representation in case PASHA wants to go ahead with this) as
he was an Adviser to NEPRA as well.
Regards....Wahaj
"Ateeq.M.Khan" wrote:
Wahaj, In last
case when PTCL wanted to raise the tariff but PTA after hearing from
public did not allow PTCL to change the tariff similarly in our case
WAPDA / KESC has sort of refused to oblige hence we as affected
subscribers can lodge protest with NEPRA...what do you
think. Ateeq
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 02,
2002 11:56 AM
Subject: Re: [pashamembers]
Fw: KESC Industrial rates for Software houses Ateeq,
NEPRA is there but such a policy directive would come from the
Government itself. Just like MOST issues policy directives to PTCL
to reduce the bandwidth rates and then PTCL gets the tariff
approved from PTA. Anyway, there's no harm in making a
representation to NEPRA for this.
Best regards....Wahaj
"Ateeq.M.Khan" wrote:
Wahaj They
have constituted NEPRA for all tariff related problems and we
have to convince them first to allow for tariff change. If they
agree then WAPDA/KESC will follow suit. I think even Ministry
will also refer the case to NEPRA for resolution.
RegardsAteeq
----- Original Message
-----
Sent: Wednesday, January
02, 2002 11:36 AM
Subject: Re:
[pashamembers] Fw: KESC Industrial rates for Software
houses This matter was vigirosuly pursued when I
was at Ministry of S&T. Minister and then Secretary has
written many letters to WAPDA followed by phone calls. WAPDA
finally refused to entertain the request. They also told that
this could only be done at the Ministerial or Cabinet level
and if Ministry of Water & Power asks WAPDA/KESC to do do,
they'd do.
This is the text of letters written by the Minister and
Secretary to WAPDA:
2(3)/2000-PSO
24 July 2000
Subject: ELECTRICITY RATES FOR THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(IT) INDUSTRY
My dear General Zulfiqar Sahib:
Information Technology (IT) today drives the
technological and economic advancement of the developed as
well as emerging economies and Government of Pakistan is
committed to take a jump start in this field. The IT Policy
and Action Plan envisages the rapid development of the IT
industry in Pakistan through various policy measures and
incentives. An issue which was brought up by the relevant
Experts Groups who formulated the IT Policy was the high
charges of electricity paid by the IT industry like Software
Houses, Internet Service Providers, and allied services. WAPDA
charges the electricity to the IT industry at commercial rates
and not at the industrial rates whereas IT has already been
declared by the Government as high tech industry.
2. IT industry is different from the conventional industry
in that it does not require any production plants and
machinery and the only hardware involved is the Personal
Computers and networking equipment. The IT industry is
knowledge based and relies mainly on brain power as
opposed to the electrical or mechanical power in the
conventional industries.
3. On an average, an IT industry employing around 50 people
consumes about 10,000 kWh of electricity per month, mostly
used on air conditioning. A list of classification of IT
industry is enclosed.
4. I would therefore request you to kindly get the relevant
WAPDA’s rules changed so that Industrial tariff regime should
be enforced for the IT industry as well. Since the electricity
consumption by the IT companies in not high and the industry
is still in its infancy stage, this decision would not cause
much financial loss to WAPDA and would help the Government to
achieve its broad economic objectives. Infact such a revision
of rules would provide invaluable incentive for the much
needed growth of the IT industry in our country.
With kind personal regards.
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman
Minister
Lt. Gen. Zulfiqar Ali Khan
Chairman
WAPDA
Lahore
-----
Government of Pakistan
Ministry
of Science & Technology
IT & Telecommunications
Division
Office of the Secretary
Tel: +92 51 920 9484
Fax: +92 51 920 9482
2(3)/2000-PSO
04 September 2000
Subject: ELECTRICITY RATES FOR THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(IT) INDUSTRY
Dear
Please refer to the letter of the Minister for
Science & Technology dated 24 July 2000 on the subject. I
would appreciate if action on the matter is expedited and a
notification may please be issued accordingly.
With best regards.
Yours sincerely,
Abu Shamim M. Ariff
Secretary
Lt. Gen. Zulfiqar Ali Khan
Chairman
WAPDA
Lahore
-----
2(3)/2000-PSO
30 September 2000
Subject: ELECTRICITY RATES FOR THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(IT) INDUSTRY
My dear Lt. General Zulfiqar Sahib:
Kindly refer to my letter of 02 August 2000 and a
subsequent reminder from the Secretary IT &
Telecommunications Division on the subject. Copies of the both
letters are enclosed. I would be grateful if you could kindly
respond to this as the matter is quite important for the IT
industry and requires urgent attention.
With kind personal regards.
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman
Minister
Lt. Gen. Zulfiqar Ali Khan
Chairman
WAPDA
Lahore
----
Best regards....Wahaj
"Ateeq.M.Khan" wrote:
Faisal The No.1 Guy that is MD is also
from the Army. But anyway that will surely
help. Last
month I tried my luck on advice of Mr Furqan Qureshi but of
no use. They do not even reply to your letters! They have
extremely bad relations with DAWN hence all stories, news
item and letters to the editors are ignored by
them. Hamza's
point about Legal Notice has weight because I have seen
similar notice served by the Dairy Farm Association to KESC
about rates. The Authority we have to appeal is NEPRA and
not KESC directly. And please do include all LEGAL IT entities like
Software Houses, ISPs, Call Centres, Institutes etc who are
registered with their associations and one govt controlled
agencies like in our case its ISPAK and PTA and in S/W/H its
PASHA and PSEB may be. RegardsAteeq KhanCEOGem Net
----- Original Message
-----
Sent: Wednesday,
January 02, 2002 9:27 AM
Subject: Re:
[pashamembers] Fw: KESC Industrial rates for Software
houses Sorry for the double post, I forgot to mention
the gentleman works in KESC.
Folks,
I don't know if this will help or not, the number 2
person after the MD is an Army guy, and I know him.
Actually his wife is a good colleague of mine and she is
IN the IT business. Perhaps we can call her and explain
her the situation so in turn she can tell it to her hubby?
No harm in giving this a try?
What do you say?
Faisal
At 01:45 AM 1/2/02, you wrote:
Dear Dr Zahir
Sahab, AoA
Yes, this has been going on for a year now. We have
included the matter in
every discussion at every
level. I think Wapda / Kesc have their own
priorities. I had a discussion with our new MD PSEB
Suhail few days back on
the topic and he had
indicated that Wapda have agreed to give industrial
tariff to STPs only. Ofcourse it's unjustified and
unfair. I hope Suhail
would take up with Ministry of
Water and Power again for unified rate on
priority
and its more important then several high stake projects
PSEB
intends to take up.
In present state, if you have a load of over 70 KVA,
you are entitled for a
relief from KESC, it's not
much a favor as such. IT is the only industry in
Pakistan, which is seen as Industry by its
constituents only, special
status!
Please elaborate, Can we take up with KESC/Wapda
directly from P@SHA. May be
send them a notice or
take up some legal recourse.
Any suggestion.
Regards
Hamza
----- Original Message -----
From: Tariq O.
Rehman
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent:
Tuesday, January 01, 2002 7:00 PM
Subject: RE:
[pashamembers] Fw: KESC Industrial rates for Software
houses
It seems to me that the government authorities still
think that the software
output is by the kilos
packed in jute bags. "The more the kilos produced,
the bigger the factory; the bigger the factory -
more of the consumption;
more of the consumption -
greater the revenues for us; the greater the
revenues - more of bad debts. See we told you
factories produce more bad
debts!"
This reminds me of a request to a senior
government officer for
installation of
air-conditioners on the first floor for the staffs
residential accomodation in Multan, because of
extreme heat in summers. The
request was declined by
the senior officer on the grounds, that the laws of
Physics told him that the higher you go, the cooler
it is!
Still want to talk about bulk rates for software
houses?
Tariq Rehman
-----Original Message-----
From:
Zahir Ali Syed [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2002 5:52 PM
To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [pashamembers]
Fw: KESC Industrial rates for Software houses
Dear Hamza,
Can you or any one else shed any light on the letter
given below?
This letter seems to indicate that Industrial rates
are available to STP's
only if their consumption is
above a certain load. The questions that come
to
mind are 1) When software has been declared as an
industry why is there a
minimum load criterion. 2)
Since all the benefits that a software house
enjoys
in a STP are available to software houses that are not
housed in
STP's . Is this letter equally applicable
to these organizations also.
Regards
Zahir
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Faisal
Khan,
CEO
________________________________
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Avenue,
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