Stop Raids; Real Estate Sector Warns Govt

LAHORE: (Web Desk) The real estate sector has warned of serious repercussions if authorities of Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPs) are not stopped from making planned inspections of the offices of the property dealers, developers and investors.

Muhammad Ahsan Malik, Vice President, (Punjab) Federation of Realtors (FOR) and General Secretary of Real Estate Consultants Association (RECA), expressed his community’s concerns at a press conference in Islamabad on Monday claiming that the director-general of DNFBPs would possibly inspect the offices of developers, builders and jewellers after budget (2021-22), which would create harassment and panic in the market.

To strengthen his claims Mr Malik, who is also convener of the FPCCI Committee on Real Estate Sector, said the developers and property dealers had been issued 20,000 notices for compliance under the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010. He also raised a logical question by asking as to why the questions for the developers and builders and jewellers were the same though the two business were totally different from each other?

He said it was logically hard to fulfill all the legal requirements including hiring of chartered accounts and specialised consultants. Mr Malik said how a property dealer could check the sources of income of a client even before a sale-purchase deal is finalised when such information may not even be accessible from banks and National Data and Registration Authority (Nadra).

Mr Malik warned raid at the offices of the developers, dealers and jewellers would send a very negative message within the country and abroad and affect investment in the real estate sector.