Govt to prevent theft in real estate

Islamabad: The government has completed preparations to establish a regulatory authority to prevent theft in the real estate sector.

Establishing a regulatory authority will allow cases and punishments to be given to unregistered persons doing business in this sector and tax evasion.

According to the report, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority will be authorized to impose a fine of Rs50,000 to Rs0.5 million for non-registration and a prison sentence of up to three years.

The Real Estate Regulatory Authority will be able to cancel the license of an agent for providing false information. A fine of Rs0.2-0.5 million may be imposed for providing false information to the authority.

The Regulatory Authority can impose a fine of Rs50,000 to Rs1 million for transferring the wrong property. A fine of Rs50,000 to Rs0.2 million may be imposed for not providing the required documents to the authority.

It is pertinent to note that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has demanded the establishment of a regulator in this sector.

On the other hand, Chairman of the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) Rashid Langrial briefed the IMF on audit matters on Monday. The IMF delegation, led by Nathan Porter, also met with the Finance Secretary.

Notably, the IMF delegation will begin policy negotiations for a $7 billion loan program starting today. The negotiations will begin with a meeting with Finance Minister Aurangzeb.

Technical negotiations between Pakistan and the IMF are almost complete. Policy negotiations will continue for about two weeks, after which the review mission will submit its recommendations to the IMF Executive Board.

The Executive Board will take a final decision on releasing the next tranche of $1.1 billion and making electricity cheaper or not by the end of this month or early April.