HCCI barred from existing as traders’ representative

HYDERABAD:

The federal government has barred a group of traders and industrialists from using the platform of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI), the licence of which was cancelled in January this year. In a letter addressed to the defunct HCCI secretary general, the Directorate General of Trade Organisations, Ministry of Commerce, said the licence cancellation notification of January 27 was still in force. "…you are directed to cease using the name and all activities related to the HCCI," reads the letter, written by deputy director Moin Ahmed.

It added the directorate had received complaints that traders and industrialists were still using the HCCI platform in violation of the cancellation. Fahad Hussain Shaikh is the purported incumbent president of the HCCI, which recently hosted a reception for Hyderabad AIG Dr Jamil Ahmed. The body even held elections two months ago.

The directorate had issued a licence to the HCCI in 2008 for a period of three years. The chamber thrice appealed for renewal of the license in 2013 and 2014, but the directorate rejected the request because the HCCI could not obtain a compliance certificate from Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. The chamber's then-ruling body also failed to conduct elections as two factions clashed over membership in 2013.

The directorate twice sent show-cause notices to the chamber in 2015, asking for submission of the required documents. Though the chamber took the matter to the Islamabad High Court, the bench gave the directorate two months in October 2019 to decide its fate. In December 2019, the regulator reached the conclusion that HCCI had failed to comply with the statutory requirements. On January 10, the HCCI was served another show causenotice, but its reply failed to convince the authority and led to its licence cancellation. The HCCI has filed an appeal, which is pending before the appellate forum.