Traders oppose quarterly garbage tax

RAWALPINDI:

Shopkeepers across Rawalpindi have been issued bills demanding Rs6,000 in garbage tax for three months, with notices directing them to pay the amount within seven days. The notices warn that shops will be sealed in case of non-payment.

The tax has triggered strong protests from traders' organisations across the city. Former president of the District Bar Association, Advocate Syed Tanvir Sohail, has announced that he will challenge the Rs6,000 bills before the Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi Bench on Monday, November 2.

Traders have decided not to pay the tax, raising the possibility of a confrontation between the district administration and business community.

Central Traders Association leaders, including Commercial Market Vice Chairman Hammad Qureshi and Sabzi Mandi Traders Association President Ghulam Qadir Mir, said no sanitation worker from the Suthra Punjab Company visited shops or plazas to provide cleaning services.

They said every market and commercial plaza had its own sanitation workers, who were paid salaries.

They said traders would not pay the Rs6,000 garbage tax under any circumstances.

The leaders said the city's sanitation system had virtually collapsed and cleaning activities existed only in official statements and documents. In practice, they said, every street and neighbourhood in Rawalpindi had turned into a dumping ground.

They questioned why shopkeepers should pay the tax when Suthra Punjab Company's sanitation workers had never visited any market or commercial plaza in the city to clean the premises.

They also pointed out that each plaza housed between 100 and 300 shops, asking why every shop should separately pay Rs6,000.

The traders said the government had placed the burden of 10 departments on shopkeepers, with two or three departments visiting shops daily to impose fines and collect money. They said sealing shops for refusing to pay had become routine.

Traders' organisations from markets and commercial plazas across the city would devise a joint strategy and launch a strong protest, they added.

Meanwhile, households in residential areas have also started receiving garbage tax bills, demanding Rs3,000 per house for three months.