RAWALPINDI, May 23: The cantonment boards of Rawalpindi and Chaklala have chosen a novel way of overcoming the financial crunch facing the two civic bodies by imposing ‘professional fee’ on all shops within cantonment limits.

The move has agitated all the 80 shopkeepers’ unions functioning under the “Markazi Anjuman-i-Tajiran”, which termed the imposition of the so-called tax a violation of the 1924 act.

First they introduced the earning method as ‘professional tax’ but when the shopkeepers declined to pay on the pretext that professional tax is levied by only the Excise and Taxation Office after being approved by the provincial assembly, officials of the boards amended name of the brand and called it ‘professional Fee’, said Mohammad Zafar Qadri, an office-bearer of the Anjuman- i-Tajiran in a statement issued after a meeting on Friday.

In order to enforce the fee, the cantonment boards have put all the shops, now approximately 22,000 in numbers, in different categories and sent notices for payment.

The notices have sent a wave of shock among the business community in the cantonment areas, who termed the ‘professional fee’ totally unjustified, saying that the decision to impose such a tax was beyond the authority of merely three-member board, which was taking “undemocratic decisions”.

“Their job is just to handle the administrative affairs and not taking decisions on unwisely taxing the business community,” Mr Qadri said.

When all shopkeepers pay all kind of federal and provincial taxes, there is left no justification for the ‘professional fee’, he added.

“There is no law of the jungle enforced in Pakistan which allows merely an employee of a cantonment board to devise categories and fix the ratio of tax on the public.”

Dawn learnt that Ghulam Murtaza Satti, an official of the board, was the man behind the crisis.

Mr Satti, who is believed to be the blue-eyed boy of high- ups, has been brought back to the job after serving suspension for several months.

Following his suspension, the case of ‘professional fee’ was also withdrawn; however he revived the issue after reinstatement. His return to the job has raised eyebrows of many who closely watch the performance of RCB/CCB.

The Anjuman-i-Tajiran drew attention of the high-ups that the cantonment board was under suspension and the three-member administrative body looking after the affairs of the boards had no legal or moral right to impose its decisions on the people.

“This is a job of a body elected by the people,” according to Mr Qadri.