RCB hit by Rs41m commercialisation fee loss

Property owners deposit a fraction of required fee, obtain stay order

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB), which has been running an extensive campaign to boost revenue and recover dues, has suffered a loss of Rs41.1 million in commercialisation fees.

Owners of a property allegedly being used for illegal commercial purposes deposited only Rs2,790,595 instead of the required Rs43,891,512 as commercialisation fee and obtained a stay order from a court through other co-owners.

According to sources, the property located on Peshawar Road covers 50.64 marlas of land and houses a large private educational institution. The cantonment board issued a notice to the property owner over illegal commercial use and directed them to deposit Rs43,891,512 as commercialisation fee.

However, instead of completing commercialisation for the entire property, some cantonment board officials reportedly collected only Rs2,790,594 as commercialisation fee for 24 marlas of land.

This move allowed the property owners to approach the court regarding the remaining commercialisation fee of about Rs41.1 million. They subsequently obtained a stay order against recovery of the remaining amount, depriving the cantonment board of immediate receipt of a large sum.

Sources say the matter appears to have been settled through collusion, as commercialisation of a property with a single CB number is normally carried out once for the entire land area and built structure, regardless of the number of owners.

In this case, although the full commercialisation fee was assessed and a notice was issued accordingly, only the amount for 24 marlas was collected. The remaining portion of the 50.40-marla property was not commercialised, enabling the owners to seek relief from the court.

When contacted, a senior officer of the cantonment board confirmed that the complete commercialisation fee could not be recovered. He added that the matter regarding the remaining recoverable fee is now pending before the court, and further recovery will depend on the court's decision.