February 11, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 22, 1428

KARACHI, Feb 10: The Sindh Local Government has fixed annual fee for installation of base trans-receiver stations (BTS) by mobile phone companies at Rs20,000 to Rs30,000 depending on the location of the tower.

The fee is far less than Rs60,000 demanded by the Gulshan Town and other towns. It will be charged by town municipal administrations (TMOs).

Meanwhile, the local government has also reduced municipal fee on transactions of immoveable property from 1.5 per cent to 1 per cent.

According to the policy guidelines issued by the local government the immovable property transfer deeds tax will be recovered from the owner of the property so that the buyer is not overburdened by additional tax.

The policy guidelines for installation of BTS provide that all cellular companies desirous to install towers/antenna in the city or rural areas of the province should obtain an NOC from the building control authority of the area.

Applications for installation of BTS shall be accompanied with the site plan of the proposed building and an NOC from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and from the environmental protection authority for those sites where a generator is to be used.

The rules stipulate that in case of any loss of life or property caused by the collapse of tower the concerned cellular company will be bound to pay Rs0.2 million to the each victim and shall make good any damage caused to the property.

It is further provided that the permission to install towers shall be for a period of 10 years initially, renewable for an equal term subsequently after due inspection by the local government authorities.

The cellular companies will be charged one time maximum flat rate of Rs20,000-30,000 by the town municipal administrations in addition to the prescribed building approval fee.

The rules provide that the government may for the reasons to be recorded, exempt from payment of commercialisation charges on land used by the mobile phone companies, which involves foreign investment.In case of operation of BTS on generators, initially when the KESC supply is not available, noise levels of the generators shall be kept up to 65-75 decibel and vibration level will not exceed 1.1M, at one meter distance from the generators.

Finance Officer of Gulshan Town Anis-ul-Hasan Zaidi told Dawn on Saturday that the town council had recommended for an annual fee of Rs60,000 for mobile phone antennas.

He said that the building owners were charging Rs0.3 million rent per year from the mobile companies.

He said that the municipal administration would now formulate by-laws to implement the policy guidelines issued by the local government.

About tax on transfer of immovable properties, the guidelines provide that the rate of tax on such properties shall not exceed 1 per cent of the value of properties under transfer.

The sub-registrar shall entertain the documents only if a copy of paid challan of the tax on transfer of properties is attached with the documents as in the case of CVT on property transfer deeds recovered by the federal government.