The bank account of National Commodity Exchange Limited (NCEL) has been reactivated on Saturday as the Sindh High Court cancelled the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) notices sent to NCEL's bank. NCEL was issued notices for a demand of Rs 222 million income tax by FBR, stating that NCEL must pay this amount because it had acquired a building from money received as advances from its members.

However, an NCEL official said that the building was purchased by NCEL members and it is now under a 'Building Management Company' (BMC) owned by all members who paid for the building,. He said that the building was not purchased by NCEL, and therefore it has not been transferred in NCEL's name. "We request the government to lend us a helping hand instead of making it more difficult for us to survive," he said.

Sources said that ignoring all these facts, perhaps inadvertently, the FBR issued such a demand and froze NCEL account. Despite making very little revenue in the past five years, NCEL has paid about Rs 80 million in taxes on various counts, they added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2009