*Trade Licence Requirement Abolished in Islamabad, Chief Commissioner Urged to Ensure Implementation: Ajmal Baloch*

*Food Authority and Excise Department Must Also Issue Notifications Ending Licence Requirement: Khalid Chaudhry*

Islamabad, November 9, 3D Media: President of the All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran and Traders Action Committee Islamabad, Ajmal Baloch; Secretary of the committee and former Senior Vice President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Khalid Chaudhry; Raja Zulfiqar; Yasir Abbasi; Chaudhry Waheed Cheema; Waleed Khalid; Safdar Abbasi; Shehzad Abbasi; Raja Imad Arif; Wasim Abbasi; Mehtab Abbasi; Zahid Abbasi; Muhammad Nauman; Ismail Khan; Qamar Abbasi; Umar Khayyam Abbasi; Raja Zahid Dhanyal; Chaudhry Kamran; Amir Bukhari; Azhar Iqbal; Shahid Hussain Abbasi; Ahmed Khan; Naeem Iqbal; Irfan Chaudhry; Syed Altaf Hussain Shah; Abrar-ul-Haq; Mehr Allah Dad; Akhtar Abbasi; Shahid Abbasi; Chaudhry Riasat; Kamran Kakakhel; Naeem Awan; Muzaffar Hashmi and Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal have said that the Federal Cabinet’s subcommittee had decided to abolish the requirement for trade licences for businesses operating in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). They expressed gratitude to the government for taking this decision in response to the longstanding concerns of the business community.

They said that following the decision, the former Director of the Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) had issued a notification abolishing trade licences and stopped the process of issuing new licences. However, the Excise and Taxation Department and the Food Authority have yet to issue their respective notifications to implement the decision.

The trader leaders pointed out that both departments function under the administrative supervision of the Chief Commissioner Islamabad. They urged the Chief Commissioner to direct the relevant departments to fully implement the government’s decision and issue formal notifications abolishing the trade licence requirement.

Ajmal Baloch said that since the government had decided to abolish trade licences for businesses in Islamabad, the administration must ensure uniform implementation of the decision across all relevant departments.

Khalid Chaudhry demanded that the Food Authority and the Excise and Taxation Department issue the necessary notifications without further delay so that traders could be spared unnecessary official procedures and administrative difficulties.

Raja Zulfiqar and Yasir Abbasi also called for complete implementation of the government decision. Meanwhile, Ajab Khan and Kamran Kakakhel warned that traders in Islamabad would no longer apply for or obtain trade licences if the decision was not implemented by all concerned departments.

The trader leaders expressed concern over the delay in implementation and called upon the Chief Commissioner Islamabad to intervene immediately and issue clear directions to all relevant departments.