It is not the way that you can imprison an industrialist or a businessman, then how will the industry run? The President Cold Store Association gives an exclusive interview to Dawn TV.
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Sahiwal: We do not believe in the black law of the FBR that arrests the business community. This law needs to be amended. The circle should be tightened against traders who do not pay taxes. These views were expressed by Chaudhry Muhammad Arshad Hussain, President of Cold Store Association Punjab, while giving an exclusive interview to Dawn TV. He is considered one of the leading businessmen in Punjab. Talking to Dawn TV UK, he said that at present, the largest cold store industry in Punjab, in which our people stock potatoes and vegetables, has taken the form of our cold storage industry. Our warehouses store things at minus degrees. I want to highlight the problems of our community. Our industry used to get an industrial electricity bill earlier, but the government of 2023 made it commercial. Since then, we have been in a court battle and we have gone to the Civil Court, High Court, Supreme Court and after that we have gone to NEPRA and Alhamdulillah we have won this case. The Federal Industries Ministry of Commerce has also issued us a notification that we fall under the commercial tariff. If we are to apply industrial tariff to our electricity bills, then my appeal to the Government of Pakistan is that our decision is there. An independent authority, NEPRA, should give us industrial status. We have such a big industry in which we hold food and vegetables. We store it for the whole year, then people use it. Our cold stores can be brought under the industrial tariff, and our problems can be reduced. Apart from the Punjab Food Authority, there are other institutions. We are following their rules, and our dealings with FBR are going well. We do not believe in any black law that has been given to FBR that can arrest industrialists. This is 100% wrong. FBR or any other department should identify those who do not pay taxes, bring them under tax, and recover from them. This is not the way that you arrest an industrialist or businessman and put him in jail; how will that industry run? We have been paying taxes before and will continue to pay them. God willing, we have to pay this tax for our country, but we should not have any problem with it.
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