SC orders groundwater tax on mineral water companies

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed all provinces to impose a tax of one rupee per litre on companies bottling and selling water while also constituting a committee to examine the quality of ‘mineral water’ being sold by these companies.

The tax will be applicable on water extracted from the ground by mineral water companies. The issue as it concerns beverages companies will be taken up at a later stage.

The committee to examine the quality of bottled-water being sold in the markets will be headed by environmental scientist Dr Ahsan Siddiqui and include officials from the Environment Protection Agency, Punjab Food Authority as well as representatives of bottled water companies.

The committee will submit a report on its findings within the next 10 days. In case it finds that any company is selling ‘substandard’ mineral , the company in question will be given three months to improve its product before punitive action is taken against it.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar issued orders to this effect while wrapping up a suo motu case pertaining to the exploitation of natural resources by mineral water companies operating in the country.

The issue had cropped up in September during the hearing of a case related to the drying up of the Katas Raj pond due to heavy consumption of subsoil level by nearby cement factories.

During today’s hearing, a PepsiCo representative told the apex court that the company earns Rs158 million per year from bottled water. He said the company has been operating in the country for the last three decades.

Discussing the cost of bottled aqua, the representative said it cost the company Rs5 to add minerals to the water it extracts. At this, the CJP intervened and remarked that he had seen a report according to which there was no [additional] mineral in the water.