Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has established a high-level committee to examine the legality, revenue implications, and regulatory framework governing the trading of property files, including plots, villas, and apartments, amid concerns over fraud, tax leakage, and investor protection, The News reported.Â
The committee was constituted following a media report that highlighted a housing scam in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where private schemes and societies allegedly sold more than 90,000 plots without land backing, collecting hundreds of billions of rupees from buyers, including government employees and retirees.
The committee will be convened by the Minister for Law and Justice and will include the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue, senior members of boards of revenue from all provinces, a senior representative of the National Accountability Bureau not below BS-21, the chief commissioner of Islamabad Capital Territory, and a representative of the Association of Builders and Developers.
The committee has been tasked with reviewing the legal status and operational mechanics of property file trading, a common practice in the real estate sector, and assessing its impact on federal and provincial revenues.
It will also examine the rights of file holders and property buyers, particularly in cases involving alleged fraud by developers, including the issuance of duplicate or fake files and overselling of properties.
Under its terms of reference, the committee is required to propose amendments to relevant laws to bring property file trading within a formal legal framework, with the aim of ensuring proper tax collection and providing legal protection to citizens and investors.
The panel may also take up any other matters relevant to its mandate and has been directed to submit its report within one month. The FBR will provide secretarial support to the committee.
