- Businesses operating in the city without NOC from the authority
- LDA has no confirmed data regarding unlawful businesses
LAHORE: The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has failed to control the illegal commercial activities in the provincial capital as thousands of businesses are being run illegally in different localities, Pakistan Today has observed.
In order to evade the LDA commercial fees, most of these businesses have been set-up inside residences. However, according to the LDA rules, no commercial activity can be commenced without taking a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the authority.
In 2014, the LDA had reviewed its policy and started legalising the already built illegal commercial structures besides allowing the temporary commercialisation if someone wanted to do in residential areas.
The rule 28 of the policy deals with conversion, commercialisation and permissibility fee, while rule 31 deals with temporary commercialisation. Under the rule 31, the authority may allow temporary commercialisation of land or property in the area, for a period up to ten years.
The LDA rules state that the owner of the business must need an NOC from the neighbours in case he/she wants to convert the house to temporary commercialisation.
Sources in the LDA said that this was the prime responsibility of the Enforcement Directorate to monitor the illegal commercial activities across the city. They said that after the identification of illegal commercial activities, the LDA had introduced the policy but it was not enforced properly.
“Despite identifying thousands of illegal commercial activities, the LDA staff often provides relief to the violators after taking bribes,” they claimed and added that there were thousands of businesses that had been established inside homes without taking approval of the LDA, with the help of the LDA staffers.
An official talking to Pakistan Today said that the LDA had taken action against those who had converted their homes to carry on commercial activities.
He said that the LDA had no confirmed data regarding the illegal commercial activities in the city even though he confirmed the existence of such businesses.
Moreover, the official said that under the section 33, 38 and 40 of the LDA Act 1975, a violator would be imposed with a penalty of imprisonment and fine. “This penalty may be applied on official or staffer of the LDA if he found involved in establishing the illegal business,” he added.
Despite assigning the staff to monitor the illegal commercial activities in the city, there are several businesses that are at work without the intervention of the LDA.
Aleem, a resident of Johar Town is running his garments businesses by establishing set-up inside his house for more than five years. Talking to Pakistan Today, he said that he was never approached by any official of the LDA. “If I will get NOC to convert my house temporarily commercial then it would be a compulsion for me to comply with the LDA policies,” he said and added that he feared that after the compliance, it would be hard to continue his businesses.
LDA Spokesperson Sohail Janjua told Pakistan Today that LDA staff regularly conducts surveys in different localities to monitor the commercial activities. “Even though it is hard to identify the violators running businesses inside their homes, we identify such elements and treat them according to law,” he claimed.
He also rejected that officials from the LDA were involved in running of any illegal commercial activities.