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Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
New number plates: small traders decry ‘aggressive' traffic police drive
KARACHI: Leaders of the All Pakistan Organisation of Small Traders and Cottage Industries Karachi have urged the Chief Justice of Sindh to take suo motu notice of what they term a 'broad daylight robbery' of Rs8 billion, being extracted from Karachi's citizens and traders under the pretext of replacing motorcycle number plates with newly designed Ajrak-themed ones. In a joint statement issued on Wednesday by President Mehmood Hamid, Vice President Javed Abdullah, Syed Naveed Ahmed, and General Secretary Usman Sharif, the trader leaders said that the new number plate campaign has turned into an excuse for bribery and exploitation by police. They called on the judiciary to protect citizens from this rampant misuse of authority. They alleged that the Sindh government has started collecting Rs1,850 per motorcycle for new number plates. They said without paying a briber of Rs2,500 to agents, obtaining these plates is nearly impossible. 'This is despite the fact that at the time of purchase, the government already collects an advance tax on motorcycles, which includes the cost of number plates. Charging citizens twice is unlawful,' the statement said. They further alleged that around 3.2 million motorcycles in Karachi are being targeted under this scheme, and that a crackdown has already begun on the megacity's roads, with traffic police reportedly stopping and fining riders aggressively. 'Traffic police have left all other duties and are now only focused on confiscating motorcycles and issuing challans,' they said, accusing officers and officials of looting the public with both hands. They expressed outrage over reports that applicants who submitted requests for the new plates last year have yet to receive them, while the enforcement drive continues unabated. Describing the entire process as unjust, they demanded an immediate halt to the fines and confiscations, calling the ongoing penalties and detentions 'oppressive.' The trader representatives emphasised that motorcycles are the primary mode of transport for the megacity's poor and lower-middle class, including small business owners who use them to transport goods. 'Petrol prices are already sky-high. Now traders are forced to carry goods on their motorcycles due to lack of alternatives,' they said. They alleged that traffic police are using the new number plate issue as a pretext to harass and extort riders. 'They pounce on motorcyclists like vultures and even search their pockets,' they said. Warning of serious protest, they stated that if these 'oppressive decisions' are not withdrawn, traders will lay siege to the office of the DIG Traffic and will not end the protest until their demands are met. Criticizing the state of public transport, they said the government thinks the problem has been solved by running just 200 to 300 buses in a city of 35 million. 'The public is already suffering due to the transport crisis. Now, banning Qingqi rickshaws on 20 main roads of Karachi has made life more difficult and pushed thousands into unemployment,' they said. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
11-06-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Small traders term budget ‘conventional fiscal document'
KARACHI: The newly unveiled federal budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 has drawn sharp criticism from the small traders' community, who have labelled it as a 'conventional fiscal document', lacking vision, innovation, and inclusivity. The budget, they argue, remains tethered to the constraints of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without offering any real roadmap for sustainable economic revival. Speaking to Business Recorder on Tuesday, Mehmood Hamid, President of the All Pakistan Organisation of Small Traders and Cottage Industry, termed the federal budget an unfruitful economic exercise that fails to address the core issues plaguing the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. He warned that the government's increasing dependency on the IMF for fiscal support is eroding national economic sovereignty and threatening long-term growth prospects. Mehmood Hamid criticised the coalition government for prioritising IMF-dictated austerity measures over home-grown economic solutions. 'There is no comprehensive policy framework to revive domestic commerce or incentivize entrepreneurship,' he remarked. 'Instead, the emphasis appears to be on widening the tax net without providing structural relief or sectoral support.' He expressed concern over enhanced powers being granted to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), saying that such empowerment, without parallel accountability and transparency, could lead to overregulation, harassment of small businesses, and potential capital flight. 'The business community is already overburdened. Aggressive revenue collection measures will only discourage investment and enterprise,' he said. The trade leader called on both federal and provincial governments to adopt a policy of fiscal austerity by curbing non-developmental expenditures. 'There is an urgent need to cut all symbolic and luxury-oriented state expenditures,' he said, citing lavish government protocols, elite entitlements, and discretionary funds for high-ranking officials such as the President, Prime Minister, and Chief Ministers. 'Fiscal discipline must begin at the top,' he said. 'If the state demonstrates frugality, it would send a strong signal to the markets and help in restoring macroeconomic confidence.' The SME sector, often described as the backbone of Pakistan's economy, continues to be overlooked in federal fiscal planning, he lamented. Despite its role in employment generation and contribution to GDP, the sector has not received targeted tax relief, concessional financing, or energy subsidies that could catalyze industrial productivity. 'If small traders, SMEs, and the cottage industry are incentivized and protected, they can bolster the industrial value chain, which in turn benefits the larger corporate sector,' he said. 'But there is little to no mention of sector-specific interventions in the budget.' On the issue of power outages, particularly in Karachi, Mehmood Hamid likened the role of K-Electric (KE) to that of a colonial monopoly, describing it as a 'modern-day East India Company.' He decried daily electricity load-shedding of up to eight hours in key commercial districts of the old city, warning that it is stifling productivity and undermining business viability, particularly amid the ongoing heatwave. 'Energy insecurity has a direct impact on industrial output. Without reliable power supply, no economy can thrive,' he said, pointing to the adverse effects of inconsistent energy provision on urban economic zones. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
