Khyber – Medical store owners staged a protest at Hospital Chowk in Landi Kotal on Saturday against what they described as unjust taxes incorporated into electricity bills, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the additional charges.
Carrying copies of their electricity bills, the protesters criticised the authorities for imposing what they termed excessive taxes on consumers through power bills.
Speaking to reporters during the demonstration, traders including Rehman Gul Shinwari, Irfan Shinwari and Atif Jan rejected the additional levies, arguing that the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) had been promised a 10-year tax exemption by the federal government following its merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
They maintained that the imposition of new taxes violated that commitment and had placed an unbearable financial burden on the region’s business community.
The traders further said that the prolonged disruption of trade through the Torkham border over the past 11 months had severely affected commercial activity, depriving hundreds of families of their livelihoods and deepening the economic crisis in the area.
Instead of providing relief to businesses already struggling with the downturn, they alleged, the federal government had imposed additional taxes through electricity bills and other commercial levies, further worsening the financial hardships faced by traders and residents alike.
The protesters warned senior officials of the Tribal Electric Supply Company (TESCO) that they would launch an indefinite sit-in if the additional taxes were not withdrawn, vowing to continue their protest until their demands were met.
