A major fiscal dispute has emerged between the Punjab government and the Federal Adjuster after the province accused the federal authorities of unauthorisedly deducting Rs7.769 billion from its share in the divisible pool on account of electricity arrears.
Terming the deduction a violation of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) decision and the 2014 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), the Punjab government has formally moved the CCI for resolution under Article 157(3) of the Constitution.
According to official documents, the CCI had in May 2014 approved a policy allowing at-source deductions of up to 25 percent of verified electricity bills of provincial departments, subject to mandatory reconciliation within 60 days between the concerned Discos and provincial departments. No further deductions were to be made until reconciliation was complete.
Punjab officials said that the Energy Department’s Reconciliation Cell has consistently implemented this system since July 2014, verifying bills and forwarding reconciled claims to the Finance Division for at-source deduction. Over the past decade, a total of Rs25.524 billion has been deducted from Punjab’s share based on signed reconciliation statements.
However, in June 2025, the Federal Adjuster authorised a fresh deduction of Rs7.769 billion for the period between July 2014 and March 2025 without any reconciliation process. The Punjab government contends that this action duplicates previously deducted amounts, making it unjustified and unconstitutional.
Officials further noted that Punjab has already reconciled all payable electricity dues up to June 2024 with all Discos, with a net payable amount of Rs14.958 billion mutually agreed upon in meetings held earlier this year. “No Disco raised objections to the reconciled figures,” the submission to the CCI states.
The province has argued that unilateral deductions not only breach fiscal discipline but also disturb intergovernmental financial harmony. Punjab has therefore urged the CCI to direct the Federal Adjuster to withdraw the Rs7.77 billion deduction and to ensure that all future adjustments strictly comply with the SOPs framed under the 2014 CCI decision.
Officials said the move to involve the CCI aims to secure a transparent and constitutional resolution while safeguarding Punjab’s fiscal rights within the National Finance Commission (NFC) framework.
