The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday has demanded immediate withdrawal of hike in NHA charges including NOC fee, approach rentals and security. LCCI President Almas Hyder said the industry cannot afford the increase that is bound to jack up the cost of doing business and promote incompetitiveness of the local industry. He said that recently, the National Highway Authority has made hundreds of percent increase in the NOC Fee, rentals and security for grant of NOC to use NHA Rights of Way (RoW) as approaches by industrial units established and to be established within NHA network.

Now the industrial units/factories/mills/plants established on an acre of land along the NHA network/connected through approach road will have to pay Rs.2, 000,000/= (one time) NOC fee, Rs.50, 000/= per year approach rentals and refundable security of Rs.100, 000/=, the industries established on 1.1 to 3 acre of land will have to pay 3,000,000/= (one time) NOC fee, Rs. 100,000/= approach rentals per year and a refundable security of Rs.500, 000/=, industrial units established on 3.1 to 5 acres will have to pay 4,000,000/= (one time) NOC fee, Rs.100, 000/= approach rentals per year and Rs.500, 000/= refundable security, the industries established on 5.1 to 10 acres of land will pay Rs.6, 000,000/= NOC fee, Rs.150, 000/= approach rentals per year and Rs.500, 000/= refundable security. Likewise, the industrial units established on 10.1 acre of land or above will have to pay Rs.8, 000,000/= NOC fee, Rs.200, 000/= approach rentals per year and Rs.500, 000/= refundable security.

The LCCI president said that in the year 2004, NOC/Registration was Rs.20, 000/=, annual approach rentals Rs. 15,000/= and cash security refundable was Rs.50, 000/=. The comparison of the these rates reveal that the fee for grant of NOC to use NHA rights of way as approaches by the industrial units has witnessed an increase from Rs.20,000 in year 2004 to Rs.8 million in the year 2018. Similarly other fees and charges have been increased.

Almas Hyder said that fanciful and illogical massive increase in National Highway Authority's NOC fee, approach rentals and security will give a big blow to the industrial sector which is already stumbling because of high cost of doing business. At a time when economy is passing through a critical time, industrial sector needs supportive measures by NHA and other relevant departments so that it can bring much-needed foreign exchange into the country by enhancing exports, he added.

The LCCI President hoped that Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed and Chairman National Highway Authority would take notice of the issue and would take decision in favour of the industrial sector by bringing down the NHA fees/charges.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019