Chambers announce strike against Section 37AA
The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has announced a nationwide strike on July 19 against Section 37AA of the Income Tax Ordinance, punitive taxes on bank transactions and Punjab's proposed labour policy deemed hostile to businesses. Other chambers of commerce of the country, including the Karachi Chamber of Commerce, have assured their full support to the LCCI.
The announcement was made at a press conference at the Lahore Chamber. Representatives of trade and industrial associations were also present on the occasion.
LCCI President Mian Abuzar Shad warned that those measures would cripple businesses, accelerate unemployment and damage investor confidence. The chamber strongly condemned the extraordinary powers granted to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials, unjust treatment of the business community and policy decisions made without business consultation. It demanded immediate withdrawal of those measures and a halt to economic victimisation of the business community.
Abuzar Shad said that the entire business community, including industrial and trade associations from across the country, stands with the LCCI. He stressed that it was not the issue of a single individual or a single city but a matter that affects livelihoods of millions of people.
He questioned who would pay the "outrageous tax" on a transaction of Rs200,000 and called such provisions irrational and unacceptable.
The LCCI president highlighted the alarming fact that 21 multinational companies had already ceased their operations in Pakistan due to the hostile business climate. He also criticised the payment of over Rs1 trillion to independent power producers (IPPs) without a single unit of electricity production, adding that such decisions were an injustice to industrialists, who are the backbone of the national economy.
Referring to Section 37AA, he pointed out that it grants FBR officers extraordinary powers, including the authority to arrest traders, which is unprecedented even at the global level.
LCCI Senior Vice President Engineer Khalid Usman said that the government was crossing all red lines drawn by the business community. He warned that if businesses were forced to shut down due to unjust regulations, the resulting unemployment would destabilise the nation.
He said that chambers from across the country, including the Karachi Chamber, were fully aligned with the LCCI's position.
Executive committee member Khurram Lodhi demanded that bureaucrats themselves should be audited and questioned whether their salaries and perks were justified and whether their assets match their official income.
"It is ironic that public servants have become rulers and are making decisions that deeply affect lives of the business community without understanding ground realities," he said.
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