Govt charging 30-year-old rent

Metropolitan corporation, Punjab government own 2,000 valuable shops

LAHORE:

The Lahore Metropolitan Corporation is losing millions of rupees in rent of its property due to the provincial government and district administration’s failure to hold fresh auction for tenants.

Despite owning property worth billions of rupees, the corporation only receives a few million rupees monthly in rent. If the more than 2,000 shops and plots are rented out afresh through auction, the revenue is likely to increase manifold.

The metropolitan corporation and Punjab government own valuable shops in different markets of the provincial capital. Under the law, the shops have to be rented out after every 10 years through auction.

However, bidding for none of the shops has been held in 30 years.

Like its predecessors, the current Punjab government is also not paying attention to the matter, which is causing a monthly loss of millions of rupees to the exchequer.

Of the more than 2,000 such shops in Lahore, 343 are owned by the metropolitan corporation and the rest by Punjab government.

They are located at GT Road, Engineering University, 15 in Gulistan Colony, 17 in Dharampura, two plots in Jinnah Market Township, 102 in Madina Market, 19 outside Dehli Gate, valuable land at Circle Road, Mochi Gate, outside Akbari Gate, near Siraj Hotel, Hajveri Market, Fish Market, Mori Gate, Yaki Gate Market, Link Jamia Masjid, Ravi Town, Lohari Gate, 224 shops in Gala Kiryana Market, 46 in Faisal Market Mochi Gate, seven on Napier Road and 26 outside Shah Alami Market.

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Similarly, Super Shah Alam Market, where each outlet shop is worth millions of rupees, has 437 government-owned shops along with 63 in Alminar Market Lohari, nine on Lake Road Old Anarkali, 34 on Laj Road Old Anarkali, 15 on Ibrahim Road Bilal Ganj, 24 in Tourist Street Old Anarkali, 20 in Bakar Mandi Bund Road, four in Chauhan Road Colony Islampura, 13 in Shuja Market MCL Colony, 26 outside Taksali Gate, 91 in Nawaz Sharif Market Yaki Gate, six in Tehsil Bazaar Syed Metha, seven in Gumti Bazaar and 20 shops in New Hajveri Market.

The property includes the National Bank of Pakistan and Bank of Punjab buildings for which rent has been collected for the past 30 years.

There are some buildings and shops that are worth a large amount for which monthly rent of a few thousand rupees is charged.

The corporation has reportedly written to the district government several times during the tenures of the incumbent and previous governments about renting out all the shops, buildings and plots owned by it through open bidding but it has not been held yet.

In 2019, Punjab government issued a notification stating that land owned by it would be auctioned by the deputy commissioner as land collector and the municipal corporation would keep half the money received. Despite this, the district administration could not auction the property owned by the Punjab government and the metropolitan corporation.

Lahore Metropolitan Corporation Estate Officer Rao Niyamat told The Express Tribune that the deputy commissioner’s office had the authority to arrange the bidding and it had been contacted several times in this regard.

Responding to a question, he said the rent being collected for all the shops was fixed 30 years ago and amounted to around Rs8.2 million annually. He estimated that if the shops were rented out through open bidding, the income could increase to over Rs150 million per year.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2021.