ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Sunday urged the government to reduce property tax on plots belonging to auto markets.
The statement was made by ICCI President Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan during a visit of a delegation of the Islamabad Auto Market, I-10/3, Traders Welfare Association (TWA), led by its TWA President Musharraf Janjua and TWA Secretary General Salawar Khan Afridi who had come to highlight the issues of their market for redress.
The ICCI president said that property tax on auto market plots had been increased from Rs6,440 to Rs14,000 in one go.
Terming it an unjustified act, he urged the government for bringing property tax down to the previous level for providing relief to auto market traders.
The auto traders further complained that water charges for auto market have also been increased from Rs1,750 to Rs4100, which was a massive increase and demanded that the charges should be rationalised to make them affordable.
Speaking at the occasion, the TWA President and secretary general said that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) should allow construction of flats on commercial units of the market to address residential issues of workers.
They said the auto market needed many facilities, including restoration of streetlights, public toilets, a filtration plant for drinking water, carpeting of roads, and a dispensary to meet the first aid needs of labour and urged that CDA provide these services.
They also called upon the Sui Northern Gas Petroleum Limited (SNGPL) to provide gas connections in the I-10/3 auro market.
It is expected that Pakistan can potentially get relief worth $915 million, including $273 million in interest payments during January-June 2021 period.