KARACHI: After certain amendments, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Friday signed the Sindh COVID-19 Emergency Relief Ordinance-2020 for provision of due economic relief to the masses in the province hit hard due to the lockdown measures in place against the spread of coronavirus.
The Sindh governor, earlier on May 07, had returned the said ordinance to the Sindh government without signing it while objecting to its contents related to relief to the masses in payment of their electricity and gas bills. The governor had objected that electricity and gas bills didn’t come under the domain of the provincial government while the two utility services are federal subjects.
After objections of the governor, the new draft of the ordinance doesn’t contain relief related to electricity and gas billing for consumers in the province. Though it still contains relief related to water and sewerage service billing to consumers.
After signing of the ordinance, it has come into effect with a retrospective effect from April 01, 2020 all over the province. Anyone violating the provisions of the ordinance will be slapped with a fine by the government up to Rs one million or seizure of his or her movable or immovable property or both.
The ordinance provides relief to students of the private schools as during the months of coronavirus emergency, they will be required to pay 80 per cent of the tuition fee.
The ordinance also bars employers from terminating the service of any employee during the coronavirus emergency as the employment of staffers/workers is now lawfully protected.
The ordinance also provides a mechanism of payment of reduced salaries to employees of such establishments, which have been shut down as part of the anti-coronavirus restrictions in the province.
The ordinance also carries the provision of deferring or suspending fifty per cent payment of rent by a tenant related to any residential premises, office, or shop.
The deferring of 50 per cent rent payment will not be applicable in cases where the landlord is a widow or differently abled person. The ordinance also carries the provision of exemption in payment of provincial taxes and duties by the general public and traders.
In payment of the monthly water bill, for the consumers living in a house having area up to 80 square yards, they will not be required to pay any bill. For house on an area from 161 square yards to 240 square yards, 50 per cent payment of water bill will be paid while on area above 240 square yards full payment of water bill has to be made. For a flat on an area up to 800 square feet, no water bill has to be paid while 50 per cent of water bill has to be paid for flats on 1,000 to 1,200 square feet area. For flat on area above 1,200 square feet, full payment of water bill has to be paid.
In a separate video message, Sindh Law and Environment Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab has said that the Sindh Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance-2020 has come into effect all over the province after signing of the Sindh governor. The provincial law adviser said that any shop, business and commercial establishment, or factory could face fine up to Rs one million in case of the violation of the Standard Operating Procedures related to the coronavirus lockdown.
He urged shopkeepers, retailers, factory or business owners to ensure due observance of SOPs including measures related to social distancing among staffers and customers and personal hygiene to avoid slapping of the fine. He said that anyone violating the ban on public gatherings, events, or congregations in the province could also face the fine as given in the said ordinance.