Day: December 2, 2021

The Minister of State and Chairman Board of Investment (BOI), Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, along with Secretary BOI, Fareena Mazhar, visited Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Headquarters in Islamabad today.

They met with Chairman PTA, Maj General Amir Azeem Bajwa (R), and discussed matters pertaining to government policy on the Information Communication Technologies (ICT) sector.

During the meeting, the matters pertaining to new investment opportunities in telecom and allied sectors were discussed. Chairman PTA informed that owing to government policies and regulatory mechanisms, Pakistan is among the attractive markets for local and foreign investors looking for new avenues to invest in Information Communications Technologies (ICT) sector.

Both sides agreed to continue to work together to promote investments in Pakistan.

Source: Pro Pakistani

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE) was informed on Thursday about the efforts to enhance the natural gas supply during the winter season.

The meeting held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar was briefed by the petroleum division on the projected natural gas supply in the country for winter.

During the meeting petroleum division presented different policy options for the management of the gas supply side. CCoE directed the petroleum division to ensure maximum gas supply while ensuring implementation of a demand management plan as already approved by the cabinet.

CCoE also reviewed the Circular Debt Report October 2021 submitted by the power division. The committee appreciated the sustained reduction in the accumulation of circular debt. The meeting was informed that the performance of the distribution companies (DISCOs) is continually improving. The sector is also adjusting to the post-Covid scenario where the collection of dues had dropped significantly. The government has been releasing the budget subsidy amount as per the plan in order to ensure the sustainability of the sector.

The Committee also considered the summary presented by the power division on the implementation of CCoE decisions. It was informed that all new renewable energy (RE) projects will participate in the open competitive bidding process to ensure the least cost procurement of renewable electricity.

The CCoE approved the summary and recommended expediting the bidding process at the meeting. Asad Umar directed the power division to present a detailed roadmap with millstones for the establishment of RE projects, including the potential locations and details of the competitive process to the CCoE in the next meeting.

The meeting was attended by the Minister for Finance, Minister for Energy, Minister for Maritime Affairs, Advisor to PM on Commerce & Industries, Chairman OGRA, Chairman NEPRA, representatives of regulatory authorities and other senior officials.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has expressed grave concerns over the stock market crash, urging the government to take urgent steps to restore the confidence of the investors.

In a statement on Thursday, President RCCI Nadeem Rauf said the KSE-100 Index lost more than 2,000 points in just one day. He added that the sentiments of investors had been badly hurt due to the growing economic uncertainty and a record high import numbers in November.

The Ministry of Finance should immediately take steps to strengthen the rupee against the dollar, he emphasized. He, however, termed the November export figures very encouraging. “We urge the government to ensure the supply of cheap raw materials, providing a conducive environment for promoting the local industry and the Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to increase domestic exports,” he stressed.

The President RCCI said the rates of income tax, sales tax, regulatory duty, and other taxes should be reduced to bring down the cost of production. He noted that the prices of oil in the world market had come down. The government, therefore, should immediately pass on the relief to the masses so that inflation can be reduced, he underscored. He said that policies must be formulated in consultation with stakeholders.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has succeeded in winning the first-ever case of conviction for the offence of money laundering based on massive tax evasion.

According to details, the Directorate General I & I-IR had received financial intelligence in respect of an individual Habibullah proprietor of M/s Rai Trading Company, Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wherein it was disclosed that the quantum of transactions (cash & bank) did not match with the suspect’s business profile.

Initial investigations were conducted by the Directorate Intelligence & Investigation, Inland Revenue Service under tax laws which unearthed six other bank accounts with huge transactions. Total proceeds in all the bank accounts were found to be Rs. 2,090 million whereas the suspect paid tax of only Rs. 192,877 for the tax year-2015.

The suspect was involved in huge concealment of income, undeclared bank accounts and misdeclaration/inaccurate particulars to hoodwink the tax authorities. Detailed scrutiny also revealed an element of money laundering, therefore, investigations were initiated for the offence of money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering Act-2010 (AMLA).

With the prior approval of the concerned court, bank accounts were provisionally attached under section 8 of the AMLA 2010. On completion of investigations under Section-9 of AMLA 2010, final challan under AMLA-2010 along with the complaint under Section- 203 of the Income Tax Ordinance (ITO), 2001 for the offence of money laundering and tax offence respectively were submitted in the court.

The prayers of the department before the court included punishment for both tax evasion and offence of money laundering and forfeiture of the proceeds. The trial proceedings concluded on 30th November 2021 resulting in the conviction of the accused under Section 4 of AMLA 2010 thus leading to two years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 0.5 million. In addition to this, the accused was also convicted under Section 192 -A of the ITO, 2001 with simple imprisonment of one year and a fine of Rs. 0.1 million. Furthermore, the court forfeited the proceeds of crime amounting to Rs. 2090.4 million.

Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance & Revenue Shaukat Tarin and Chairman FBR/Secretary Revenue Division Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed have commended the performance of Directorate of I & I-IR and congratulated them on this success.

This conviction is a great success of FBR in its ongoing drive against tax evasion and money laundering and will pave the way for more convictions. FBR has introduced a number of innovative interventions both at the policy and operational level to ensure a culture of tax compliance in the country.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has ordered Pak Suzuki to refund the excess general sales tax (GST) amount that the automaker had collected from its customers beyond the rate predetermined by the government in the recent auto policy.

During a press briefing on Thursday, FTO Dr. Asif Mahmood Jah said that Pak Suzuki had deducted GST from its customers at the rate of 17% at the time of booking despite the fact that the government had already announced a reduction in it, bringing it down to 12.5%.

Speaking about complaints against officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Dr. Jah said FTO received 636 complaints from the public of maladministration by FBR officials during the past two months. He maintained that 360 of the total complaints were either accepted or referred to FBR for redressal.

He stated that the mandate of the FTO office was to resolve the grievances of taxpayers, so the taxpayers having any complaints of harassment by tax officials must lodge their complaints with the FTO.

He underlined that any corrupt officers of FBR would not be relieved in any case. He added that the officers who were not involved in any corruption needed not to worry, as no action would be taken against them.

“We have conducted investigations against 15 tax officers during the last two months,” he informed the media, adding that FBR also announced on November 18 that the tax department had also started investigations against a commissioner on the recommendation of FTO.

He said that he was actively engaged with the Chambers of Commerce and Industries of all the major cities and was holding meetings with the tax representatives to ensure redressal of the complaints. He said he was personally overseeing the cases and was trying to resolve the complaints as soon as possible.

Regarding non-custom paid vehicles, the FTO said the government recently impounded seven such vehicles from Sialkot and four from Lahore. He added that an excise inspector was also arrested on allegations related to forged documents.

To a question about his appointment, the FTO said he had met President Arif Alvi twice prior to his appointment, however, the President had no role in his appointment.

He said that the FTO facilitation desks had been established at all the airports and Chaman and Torkham borders on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan. On the public demand, more regional offices are being established in the major cities, he informed.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has announced precautionary measures to limit radiofrequency exposure from cellular devices.

In a public notice, PTA has stated that it has put in place a process of ‘Type Approvals’ in accordance with best international practices.

The process of Type Approvals, in principle, states that all devices are evaluated to ensure their conformity to international manufacturing standards including health and safety standards. This ensures that all such Type Approved devices by PTA conform to prescribed power limits for radio frequency usage as per international practices.

Regarding the safe use of cellular devices, PTA has stated that it is committed to the health and wellbeing of Pakistani cellular device users, adding that research indicates that cellular devices do not pose a direct health problem for users.

PTA stated advised that precautions could, however, be taken to limit the radiofrequency exposure from devices which included: rationalizing the amount of time spent using a wireless device, preferably using a speakerphone, handsfree, or ear-pods to limit exposure.

A parliamentary panel had asked PTA officials if the installation of mobile phone towers had any harmful effects on human health. The PTA officials had informed the committee that mobile phone towers had no harmful health effects.

Source: Pro Pakistani