ISLAMABAD: Traders of the federal capital have called for the promulgation of a new rent law in Islamabad as soon as possible.
Talking to the media on Wednesday, traders appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice for early hearings of cases related to the vacating of shops.
“Most of the problems are due to the absence of rent laws in Islamabad,” said Ajmal Baloch, president of the Markazi Anjuman-i-Tijaran Pakistan.
He explained that the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration was the major hurdle in the approval of a rent law in Islamabad as the ICT had not completed necessary paperwork and had not submitted reports at the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior.
The traders said that PML-N MNA Mian Abdul Manan and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNA Asad Umar had presented a draft rent law in the National Assembly, which was prepared in consultation with all stakeholders and that the draft bill had been laying at the relevant standing committee for more than a year.
“A year later, now the ICT administration is claiming there is no budget to advertise for a public hearing in this regard so that stakeholders’ views can be obtained,” Mr Baloch told the media.
He said the federal capital is the costliest city for traders as shop owners increase rents at 10pc per year.
“This 10pc increase in rent is a serious issue for traders and also leads to micro-level inflation in the city,” he said.
Mr Baloch added that due to the lack of rent laws, Islamabad had become the costliest city in the world which has adverse financial repercussions.
The Markazi Anjuman-i-Tijaran Pakistan called upon the government for the early promulgation of rent laws to spare traders further trouble.
Mr Baloch also spoke about the other issues traders were facing.
“The time to file an appeal against a decision in terrorism related cases is 15 days while that for appeals against decisions related to the vacating of shops is only three days,” he said.
Published in Dawn
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