KMC, KE continue to face public anger over collection of municipal tax

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and K-Electric (KE) remained under fire on Tuesday over a Sindh government decision authorising the city’s sole power utility to collect a municipal tax through electricity bills, as people continued to throw garbage into vans

of the power utility in different parts of the city.

In a controversial decision last week, the KE was authorised to collect municipal charges from the people of Karachi through power bills on behalf of the KMC. In a fresh video being circulated on social media, citizens could be seen throwing garbage into a KE van after stopping it.

In another video doing the rounds on social media, citizens could be seen stopping a KE vehicle and dumping garbage from garbage cans in the back of the vehicle and asking the KE staff to start collecting domestic waste as they were now charging them for it.

In one more video of North Karachi, citizens could be seen dumping garbage at the entrance of a KE office in a bid to protest against the authorisation of the utility to collect the municipal tax. The KMC, however, says that the tax is not new. “Only the tax collection mechanism has been changed,” KMC Municipal Commissioner Afzal Zaidi said while talking to The News.

The tax had been collected for ages in different forms and those who did not pay monthly municipal taxes would have to pay its collective amount when they sold their property, he explained.

While various political parties have rejected the Sindh government and KMC’s move, calling it an effort to fleece the people of Karachi, people have resorted to a unique protest in which they are throwing garbage inside KE vans and outside their offices.