GUJRAT: The proposed 10pc increase in the fee of mutation and issuance of fard (ownership document) at the Arazi Record Centres (ARCs) has been rejected by the board of directors of the Punjab Land Record Authority (PLRA).

The PLRA board’s 15th meeting was held in Lahore on Friday with PTI MPA Sardar Ahmad Ali Khan Dareshak in the chair whereas senior member board of revenue (SMBR) Baber Hayat Tarar and divisional commissioners participated through the video link.

The PLRA management had proposed the raise in the fee of service delivery but it was rejected. However, the 10pc increase in salaries of the PLRA staff and three years extension to the PLRA’s accords with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), the Bank of Punjab and commercial banks were also approved in the meeting. The board approved Rs4.5bn annual budget of the PLRA for 2021-22 was.

The meeting was told the number of service delivery units in addition to the tehsil level and Qanoongoi level ARCs had also been increased up to 5,000 in the last one year through opening kiosks at NADRA and commercial banks level.

The meeting was informed that the dedicated staff of at least 14 foreign diplomatic missions, including the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), United Arab Emirate (UAE) and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), had also been trained to launch service delivery for expats in those missions for the issuance of property documents whereas 20 mobile ARCs were functional in the province.

Meanwhile, the PLRA claimed to generate revenue of at least Rs22bn under various provincial, federal and local government taxes through service delivery during the previous fiscal year. At least Rs11bn were earned through the federal government’s gain and advance taxes and Rs4bn were deposited in the district council and municipality tax on transactions of properties at the ARCs.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2021