Apex chamber to move Supreme Court on capacity payments

As a last resort to save the economy, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Tuesday announced that it would file a case in the Supreme Court against the unbearable capacity charges being paid to independent power producers (IPPs). FPCCI Acting President Abdul Mohamin Khan, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said despite repeated and unrelenting expressions of its concerns and apprehensions — loud and clear — regarding IPPs’ capacity charges, the business community is still not being taken on board for the consultative process to resolve the issue as soon as possible despite being the primary stakeholder of the issue. However, M. Abdul Aleem, Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer of Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), told Dawn that “we always follow logical discussion on complicated and sensitive issues. Court action is not part of our strategy unless there is a blatant violation of our rights or commitment, policy or contract”.