—Licences issued on simple applications at nominal fee of Rs3,000-6,000 rupees per year
–Civic agency fails to award parking lot licence to highest bidder
ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has awarded the licences of kiosks without open auction, causing a loss of Rs3 million to the national exchequer, according to documents available with Pakistan Today.
The Land Disposal Regulations, 2005 requires commercial and business plots to be sold or leased out through open auction But without an open auction, temporary licences for operating tuck shops, various kiosks and stalls and Daman-e-Koh and other public parks were issued. These licences were issued on a simple application at a nominal license fee back in 2009 and were being extended without any increase in rates or advertisement in the press. The licences expired in 2014 and 2015 but the licencees were running kiosks without any extension or deposit of license fee, causing loss to public exchequer.
The absence of open competition by the authority led to a decrease in transparency and deprived the entity of competitive rates and denied a fair opportunity to other prospective bidders for participation in the bidding process.
In another instance, a parking lot at Daman-e-Koh was auctioned to the bidder for a low price. Furthermore, the authority collected a sum of Rs3.161 million from July 27, 2016, to June 30, 2017, through departmental employees.
CDA routinely undertakes operations against illegal kiosk and stalls in various sectors as well as adjacent areas of Islamabad. Recently, a similar operation conducted by the enforcement wing razed a service station, kiosks and dozens of rooms on demarcated plots all over the city. In order to make sure that no future occupation takes place, the staff dug land in the area previously seized by vendors and mechanics so that they can be deterred from undertaking such activities in future.
Last year, the civic authorities were all set to grant licences to 485 kiosks in Islamabad after demolishing many of them and no new development has taken place since the change in government.
In Islamabad, these kiosks appear in every new sector. The labourers, residents and visitors are facilitated by them as mostly no market or shop is present nearby. A whole dhaba culture has evolved in the capital around cheap hotels, providing tea and a charpoy to sit and chat with friends in the evening.