The Taliban authority in Afghanistan is all set to approve a proposal by the country’s electricity regulator, allowing it to recover its dues from former government officials by selling their properties.  Ever since the Taliban seized power in the country on August 15, the shortage of electricity skyrocketed in many parts of the country. The country imports most of its electricity from neighboring countries and has very little generation capacity.   

Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), the country’s electricity regulator, came up with the proposal, said TOLOnews. This came after it estimated the unpaid bills by former government officials running over $5.5 million. 

“We are working on a procedure. A policy should be established to receive payments for the electricity bills from these people,” Saifullah Ahmedzai, the acting director of the DABS, was quoted as saying by TOLOnews. 

Based on the policy, he added, “we might sell their properties or we will find alternative options.”

Many of these officials have already left the country since the Taliban takeover on 15 August, and the DABS said they are unlikely to return. 

DABS officials said the department is yet to pay around $52 million to neighboring countries for the import of electricity. However, these bills are unlikely to be paid any time soon as the country’s reserves stored abroad remain blocked following the Taliban takeover. 

Significantly, in the last twenty years, when the Taliban had been in control of most of the country’s rural parts, the group used to collect the electricity bills from people. However, the charges had never been deposited to the erstwhile government. 

(SAM)