Interbank funds transfer: LCCI for immediate withdrawal of fee

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has termed the fee on interbank funds transfer as an impediment for the business activities and called for its immediate withdrawal.

“It is nothing else but to discourage the business community and they will conduct cash transaction instead of e-banking.”

In a statement, LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah, Senior Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan and Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry said that a fee of 0.1 percent has been imposed on interbank transactions of over Rs 25,000 which will be doing more harm than good and continuously affect the business atmosphere in the country.

They said that the business community has rejected the fee on online interbank transactions from the first day but concerned authorities are not ready to realize the ground realities.

They said that though expansion of the tax net is the need of the hour but government would have to find new ways to bring the untaxed sectors into the tax net. They said that measures like imposition of fee on interbank e-transactions are not doing any service to the economy.

They said that tax on e-bank transactions has been imposed forcefully, that is not only hampering the trade and economic activities but is also tarnishing the soft image of the government.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021