NBR split certain, ordinance flaws to be fixed

The National Board of Revenue will certainly be split once the flaws in the ordinance are corrected, said Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, accusing its drafters of "deliberately inserting loopholes" through "trickery".

"The ordinance would be amended. In the new structure, neither the administration cadre nor the customs and taxation cadres will dominate the two new divisions," he told reporters at a press briefing yesterday at the ministry.

The briefing was hosted by a five-member advisory panel formed on June 29 on trade facilitation, industrial policy, and revenue reform.

According to Khan, NBR officials who recently took part in protests have apologised and retracted their objections.

"They no longer oppose the formation of the two new divisions. They have moved away from their earlier position of preserving the NBR in its current form," he said.

"There will be no NBR. People just laugh when they hear the name. It has become a joke, and you all know why. It is best to leave that name behind."

Commenting on the flaws in the ordinance and the unrest that followed, the adviser said the dispute originated from a long-running conflict between the civil administration and the tax and customs cadres.

"This tension is nothing new, but it flared up over this ordinance for two main reasons. Fundamental flaws in the ordinance and some clever manoeuvring by those who drafted it," he said.

The adviser cited vague terms such as "suitably qualified" or "experienced in revenue collection" as examples of the kind of ambiguity that could be exploited in senior appointments.

"These issues have been raised by our committee, and we will submit our recommendations to the government," he added.

Khan said a separate policy guideline would be proposed for appointments to top positions in the two divisions. This would set out clear and specific eligibility criteria for roles such as secretary.

On May 12, the government issued the ordinance, dissolving the NBR and creating two separate revenue divisions. It prompted protests by NBR officials and staff, which lasted for two months.

Khan said the government had since lost trust in those officials and that they must now prove their worth.

"They must regain that confidence through better revenue collection and improved trade facilitation, which would help ease container congestion at ports and speed up the clearance of goods," he said.

Business representatives, meanwhile, reported significant economic losses during the recent protests by the NBR officials and alleged that harassment by customs and VAT authorities persists.

Khan added that many in the business community had questioned the government's delay in taking action. "The government has shown extraordinary patience because it wants to proceed democratically."

Asked whether the government would offer NBR officials any assurance that no disciplinary measures would follow, the adviser replied, "There is nothing to reassure."

"The movement went on for two months, and the government did not intervene. These officials are not children. We tried to reassure them that their concerns would be taken into account," he said.

The strike, he added, had harmed exporters and importers and caused a loss of state revenue. "This is not a private enterprise. There has to be accountability."

"Such actions carry consequences. The economy has suffered. Exports have suffered," he said.

Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan and Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan were also present.