KARACHI, March 22: The sales tax refund collectorate to remain open on Sundays as well as on other public holidays to clear the backlog of sales tax refund claims of exporters.

The sales tax refund collectorate issued these instructions on Monday through an order (No.1/misc/DC/refund/st/2003), to expedite the release of exporters' pending refund claims.

The collectorate will continue to work accordingly till all the pending refund claims are streamlined. It has also been decided to maintain an "age-profile" of refund claims so that older claims are processed on priority.

It has been specified that any refund group which sanctions less than 75 refund claims on daily basis will be considered below normal efficiency level. The exporters can visit sales tax collectorate on public holidays to get the status of their pending claims.