A delegation of Peshawar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) headed by its President, Mohammad Ihtesham Haleem called on Administrator Municipal Corporation Peshawar (MCP) Syed Zafar Ali Shah here on Wednesday and discussed issues relating to municipal taxes including trading, catering, crockery and marriage hall, motor bargain centre and professional and other taxes with him.
The Administrator MCP was told that dozens of unconcerned persons collecting taxes in the bazaars. In response to the complaint of the traders, the Administrator MCP said the taxes from trading community is collected on the directives of provincial government and work on a project for computerisation of the tax collection of the municipal body is also been initiated.
The initiative will not only facilitate the business community, but will also make the collection of taxes in honourable manner and will help improve the tax collection system. The Administrator said that it has been observed that some retired employees of the municipal corporation are collecting illegal taxes from shopkeepers through black mailing and fraudulent manner, which is sheer injustice and high handedness. He sought the co-operation of traders' association to purge the municipality of such black mailers, which are inflicting financial losses both on the government and trading community as well.
According to details, more than 150 shopkeepers of the Karkhano Market have removed their encroachments voluntarily. The Administrator MCP said that the voluntarily removal of encroachments will minimise the loss of traders in the anti-encroachment operation and requested all traders to follow the example set up by the traders of Karkhano Market.