A ‘shady’ Rs1b discount for top bureaucrats

Late payment charges imposed by housing foundation waived by ex-PAC chief

ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be a mega scam in housing sector, two months before leaving his office, the former leader of opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah gave a housing scheme in Islamabad a waiver of over Rs1 billion that is being constructed for the country’s top bureaucrats.

According to documents, the Pakistan Housing Foundation started a housing project in Kuri Road Islamabad in 2012 for retired federal government officers of grade 20, 21 and 22, as per the layout plan of capital development authority (CDA).



The project faced delays for a variety of reasons that included technical and legal but the ‘main issue’ was late payments by majority of its allottees. To expedite payments, the PHA foundation used delay payment charges to compel the allottees to make timely payments and improve cash flow and avoid further delays. Initially, the board of directors of PHA foundation waived off the delayed payment charges of Rs1.04 billion but the auditor general in its report of 2015-16 objected to the ‘irregular waiver’.

Interestingly, the delay in construction of the housing scheme was discussed in Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting in April 11, 2018 while another meeting was held in the chamber of the then chairperson Syed Khurshid Shah. According to senior officials of the Ministry of Housing and Works, the particular issue of withdrawal of late payment was never discussed though it was on the agenda.

But to the utter surprise of ministry officials, on April 12 the National Assembly’s PAC wing sent a memorandum mentioning the meeting held on April 11 and directed to waive off the late payment collected from the allottees. Subsequently, the PAC chief also waived off all the late payments collected after the said period or the waiver on which PAC objected.



Baffled by the development, on May 7, the then PHA Foundation Chief Executive Officer Jameel Ahmed Khan wrote a letter to the NA secretariat and its joint secretary of PAC about the decision and its repercussions. Khan stated that the relaxation in delayed payment charges would have adverse effect on allottees of other housing societies as well and they might demand similar concession.

“The allottees of completed projects could also use this relaxation as a precedent and could knock the doors of courts and federal ombudsman for similar benefit,” he said, adding that it could also encourage discrimination and favourtism amongst allottees of other projects.

He also stated that the waiver was thrice placed before the Board of Directors but it was turned down each time owing to abovementioned consequences and in the interest of project(s).

Some of the allottees had approached federal ombudsman against imposition of the delayed payment charge but it was rejected. A senior official of the ministry commented that similar charges were collected from low-cost housing schemes that are for retired government officials of lower grades and they have to pay such payments.

“It will be unfair to waive off it for retired secretaries, additional secretaries and joint secretaries of 20, 21, 22 grade but nothing for those who spend their careers saving money for such project,” he said, adding that similar low-cost housing schemes are underway and no such thing is offered to those allottees.  Shah was contacted several times on multiple cell numbers but he did not respond to calls and text messages.