LAHORE: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) of Lahore has terminated its contract with a private company responsible for collecting advertising taxes after it was found extorting Rs200 million from citizens and violating the agreement multiple times.

The contract, originally set to expire in June 2025, was prematurely terminated due to repeated breaches, including overcharging traders and shopkeepers, harassment, and failure to provide financial data to the authority, an official told Dawn on Friday.

According to a PHA spokesperson, the company violated the agreement on nine occasions, unlawfully charging fees for advertising campaigns and publicity boards not covered in the contract.

It also disregarded Lahore High Court orders and demonstrated unprofessional behaviour towards citizens. Despite multiple warnings, the company failed to rectify its actions.

Last year, the PH A outsourced its shop-board tax collection to improve revenue, awarding a oneyear contract worth Rs450 million.

However, after the company aggressively issued tax notices to shopkeepers, complaints surged,prompting the authority to take action.

In various cases, when some PHA officials reached out the businesses to impose fee, they were manhandled. The firm was awarded a one-year contract for Rs450m. It started issuing notices to a huge number of shopkeepers in the city to deposit the requisite tax. This created a mess as shopkeepers started coming with complaints. The allegations that led to termination of the contract also included violation of the Lahore High Court orders leading to several contempt petitions, collection of tax even from those do not fall under the contract, ill-mannered staff and others, another official said, adding that the PHA has also started planningtohire services of other eligible contractors in this regard.

DC: As part of the ongoing review of development works under the Lahore Development Program (LDP), Deputy Commissioner (DC) Syed Musa Raza on Friday directed authorities to ensure timely completion of projects.

Following his directives, Wagah Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Amir Butt, along with MPA Malik Waheed, inspected various development schemes.Nishtar Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Saleem Aasi reviewed progress in Union Councils (UCs) 270, 271, and 251 alongside a Nespak team.

He also visited UCs 241, 247, and 251 and expressed satisfaction with the pace of work.

Assistant Commissioner of Ravi Tariq Shabbir inspected LDP projects in UC 8 and UC 13 (Saeed Park) and found MCL and Nespak representatives absent in UC 6, issuing a warning to the officers.

Assistant Commissioner of City Babar Ali Rai reviewed work on Kacha Jail Road, instructing contractors to maintain quality standards.

Also, Assistant Commissioner of Raiwind Zainab Tahir chaired an LDP review meeting, stressing the need for prompt completion of project estimates, while Assistant Commissioner of Cantt Fatima Arshad assessed the progress of ongoing works.

DC Raza directed not to tolerate any negligence in development works and emphasised on utilizing all resources for the development of the city.

He has also directed to complete the development works under the LDP in a timely and transparent manner. -Khad Hasnain