Government Plans to Regulate Pakistan Realty Sector
Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Zafar Hijazi informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance that the government has proposed to regulate the realty sector of Pakistan in the Companies Bill 2017. It has become the need of hour to bring property sector into formal economy to regulate and introduce reforms in it.
It is also proposed that any company engaged in real estate should not announce any real estate project, without taking approval of the SECP and all necessary approvals, permissions, NOCs of the concerned authorities. The decision has been taken after seeing the examples of other realty market such as Dubai, where investment has been enhanced after they regulate the realty sector.
The government has brought the property sector in the ambit of the Companies Bill 2017 that the National Assembly passed recently. The Senate' s Standing Committee on Finance is currently reviewing the bill. The bill would bind companies and cooperatives to get clearance from the SECP before inviting or accepting finances from the general public. It would also bind companies and cooperatives to get clearance from the SECP before inviting or accepting finances from the general public.
It is high time now to protect the investors of the property sector, as many people have already wasted their billion of rupees in this sector due to lack of legislation in the country. Therefore, the committee suggested that the government must also abolish the condition of giving NOCs for announcing any real estate project, as there should be approval only.
The senate committee also showed displeasure on the government' s policy of giving acting charges to officers to head the public offices. The members remarked that performance of the government department affects by giving acting charge to officers instead of appointing permanent head.