Hotels face action for height charge evasion

Building plans for one hotel have been cancelled, notices issued for others

RAWALPINDI:

Five high-rise luxury hotels in various private housing societies situated along the New Islamabad International Airport route allegedly caused a loss of millions of rupees to the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) by not paying extra height charges.

These housing schemes are alleged to have approved building plans in connivance with the 'RDA officials'. The RDA has now cancelled the approved building plan of one hotel and issued notices for the cancellation of building plans for four others.

According to the rules within the controlled area of the RDA, building plans for commercialised plots exceeding 38 feet in height require the payment of extra height charges at the rate of Rs60 per square foot before approval.

However, building plans

of five hotels in two private

housing schemes near the

Islamabad International

Airport were approved

without paying millions in

extra height charges. This caused a loss of approximately Rs100 to Rs150 million to the RDA.

Despite this, the concerned RDA director neither issued any notices for the collection of extra height charges before nor after the approval of these building plans. However, following the appointment of Atif Chaudhry as the Director of Land Use and Building Control, action has been taken against this illegal act.

The approved building plan for one hotel has been cancelled, and notices have been issued for the cancellation of plans for the other four hotels. A seven-day deadline has also been given for payment of extra height charges and penalties.

When The Express Tribune inquired about the non-collection of extra height charges from commercialised plots in the RDA, it was revealed that standard operating procedures (SOPs) exist for this process. However, officials dealing with such matters, including a responsible officer at the Business Facilitation Centre, ignored these SOPs. This not only caused financial losses worth millions to the RDA but also benefited those who colluded to get the building plans approved.

The RDA has vowed to tighten its procedures and hold accountable those responsible for the financial losses. Officials stated that a thorough review of past approvals will be conducted to ensure no further discrepancies occur. Meanwhile, the hotels involved have been given a strict seven-day deadline to comply with the payment of outstanding charges, or face further legal action.

The crackdown is part of a broader effort to ensure transparency and prevent similar violations in the future.