FICO demands withdrawal of 125 crore penalty notices to industry 

Ludhiana, December 6, 2021: Today, Gurmeet Singh Kular President Federation of Industrial & Commercial Organization (FICO) and Rajeev Jain General Secretary FICO met Er. Bhupinder Khosla Engineer-in-Chief PSPCL Central Zone, and demanded withdrawal of 125 Crore Penalty Notices issued to the industry. 

Gurmeet Singh Kular President FICO said that recently it has been observed that the various teams of PSPCL have been conducting raids on Electroplating Industrial Units along with induction heat treatment industry regarding Power Intensive Units (PIU); and issued the penalty notice of 125 Crore for UUE - Unauthorized Use of Electricity, under Power Intensive Unit Categories. We at FICO, strongly oppose the raids being carried out on the industry and request that the department should issue a warning first, and if the corrections are not made even after notices, then the department should issue penalty notices. He further said that UUE does not have much affect on the revenue of PSPCL. Industry is ready to pay the difference of Tariff. 

Rajeev Jain General Secretary FICO said that it is notable that the industry especially the MSME Units are already struggling for their survival because of the losses incurred due the Lockdowns & Curfews imposed to curb the Covid-19 Pandemic. During this hour of crisis, industry needs the hand holding by the government; as imposing raids and imposing the PIUs is totally unjustified for the Small electroplating processing industry, it will put direct burden on the industry, as he said the industry operates on very limited margin of profit, and issuing notices of lakhs will wipe out the industry from Punjab.