Rawalpindi, Chaklala: Cantonment boards all set to launch amnesty scheme next week

ISLAMABAD: Aimed at increasing its revenue the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards are all set to launch an amnesty scheme next week to regularise illegal domestic structures waiving off the fine but the beneficiaries will have to pay development charges and building tax.

The scheme will be effective from September 1, 2020 and will continue for two months. "The scheme will be further extended keeping in view public interest," a senior official of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) said, adding that both the cantonments were expected to generate millions of rupees in case the scheme was successful.

He said the amnesty scheme would apply to illegal structures of domestic units built on less than 10 marlas of privately owned land that were built before 2015. Under the scheme all homeowners have been asked to legalise their illegal structures without a fine and to have their home building maps approved, he said.

The official said that people would pay a nominal fee of Rs2,500 for approval of their building by map by the RCB which would be approved within two days. He said that according to RCB estimate around 25,000 to 30,000 illegal structures existed in different areas, leaving it no choice but to legalise that construction by announcing an amnesty scheme to bring it into the tax net.

Talking to Business Recorder, vice president RBC Malik Munir said the board had the mandate to amend rules and regulations and could regularise unapproved domestic units any time. The scheme did not cover commercial buildings, he said.

When asked if the scheme announced by the cantonment would undermine the government's pledge to eliminate encroachments, he said the amnesty scheme's objective was to regularise unapproved residences built on private land and not on state land.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020