LAHORE The Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) has hit domestic consumers hard by adding about 100 per cent fuel adjustment charges in Novembers electricity bills. It merits mentioning here that the step was taken four days after the Lahore High Court suspended a notification of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) pertaining to levying Re.1.03 fuel adjustment surcharge for the month of September on industrial consumers in Octobers electricity bills. The fuel adjustment charges are a means that a utility has to pass on to its consumers with any cost changes in the fuel they use to generate electricity. It was learnt that not only the Lesco but all the distribution companies (Discos) also applied the same tactics in November bills to accumulate billions of rupees from consumers. A bill showed that he had consumed 256 units during the month with actual electricity cost of Rs 1,524.16 but the company added Rs 1836.88 in his bill in terms of fuel adjustment charges hence, total cost he has to pay with all other taxes including electricity duty, GST, PTV fee, and NJS reaches Rs 3,692. Similarly, in another bill a sum of Rs 2,100 was added as fuel adjustment charges while the actual price of electricity consumed was Rs 1,910. Shopkeepers, traders and residents in a number of areas complained that their electricity bills for November were higher by thousands of rupees than the ones for previous months as well as the ones issued for the same months last year. In addition to total cost of electricity which was Rs 6,378.38 against 722 units consumed during the month of November, I was charged an additional amount of Rs 72.20 as meter rent, Rs 182 as electricity duty, Rs 4,000 as fuel adjustment, Rs 35 as PTV fee, Rs 1,115 as General Sales Tax and Rs 48 as General Sales Tax Adjustment, lamented another consumer of Model Town. An official of Lesco told this scribe that the company had added the charges according to the Nepras notification and the company itself had nothing to do with the fuel adjustment charges.