- Commissioner denies any policy formulated to end tax, custom duty concessions in region
SWAT: The profiling and documentation of non-custom paid (NCP) vehicles was started in all districts of Malakand Division including Swat district on Tuesday as more than one million NCP vehicles are currently plying roads in Malakand Division and the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“In the last meeting of the Provincial Apex Committee, it has been decided to bring the NCP vehicles into tax net following the introduction of tax and imposition of customs duty regime in Malakand Division and merged districts. After which various institutions including FBR have started preparations but the business community associated with the NCP vehicles, including political and public level, have started strong opposition and have decided to resist the enforcement of tax and customs duty regime.
The government has initially started the process of allotting special numbers to NCP vehicles by establishing centers in the district headquarters of all districts of Malakand Division including Swat. These Centers have been set up at Saidu Sharif Airport and Matta Tehsil of Swat.
“In all these centers, the process of profiling NCP vehicles was started under the supervision of the Excise and Taxation Department. The authority concerned investigates the NCP vehicles with the help of traffic police and later these vehicles will be issued a temporary special number”
Swat District Excise and Taxation Officer Nisar Muhammad Khan told the media that profiling of these vehicles has nothing to do with tax or customs duty, adding that “we will prepare a regular record of these vehicles and send them to the government as per the instructions of the government.”
He said that there is no truth in the rumors that these vehicles are being brought into tax net as nothing was being charged for profiling these vehicles, pointing out the vehicles already allotted numbers did not need to be reentered.
The persons who registered the vehicles on this occasion, Shahid Khan Advocate and Mohammad Sudais said that the process will at least clarify the ownership of the vehicles and these vehicles will be protected from being used in crime or theft.
Since the merged districts including Malakand division are tax free zones, NCP vehicles are used in these districts since 1997 and currently, there are more than one million vehicles being used as private and public transport mean.
On the other side, people are worried that if the tax is imposed, employment opportunities will be taken away. Taxi driver Abdullah told this scribe that he borrowed from someone and bought this NCP vehicle earning sustenance for the children.” If the government does not feel pity for an old man like me, then kill us to settle the story once and for all”, he regretted.
Bargain Association President Akbar Khan said that there are one-thousand in Swat district while more than six-hundred bargains and car showrooms throughout the division for purchasing and selling NCP vehicles, adding millions of people were associated the business of NCP vehicles in the region.
“If the government tries to take our jobs away from us, we will put up strong resistance,” he expressed the resolve and added it is a tax-free zone and as long and they will resist any attempt to deprive the region of facility.
Due to the abolition of customs duty, the NCP vehicles brought from Afghanistan are 50 to 70 percent cheaper than the market and this is why every third household owns one or two NCP vehicles in the region.
‘No policy without public consultation’
Commissioner Saqib Raza Aslam said that no policy will be made without public consultation, adding that this issue is not only for Malakand but also for the merged district of erstwhile Fata and Gilgit-Baltistan.
He ruled out any action going on in the region to bring the NCP vehicles into tax net, saying even if any such policy was formulated, it will be made keeping in mind the needs and aspirations of the people of the region. “Any such policy will be made only by taking people into confidence”, he declared.
“The government and all other organizations concerned are preparing to bring these vehicles into the tax net, but on the other hand, political parties and the business community are not ready to accept the tax implementation.”
The economists have expressed concern, if relief is not given by ending the facility of NCP vehicles in Malakand division affected by natural calamities, there may be a storm of unemployment in the area.
