NBR officials’ pen-down strike enters second day

Officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) continued their nationwide pen-down strike for a second consecutive day yesterday, demanding the removal of the NBR chairman and the cancellation of recent transfer orders.

The latest round of the protest began on Monday with a three-hour work stoppage. Yesterday, demonstrators extended it to five hours, from 9 am to 2 pm.

Staff staged a sit-in at the NBR headquarters at Agargaon area of the capital, while officials outside the capital joined in at their respective offices.

The NBR Unity Reform Council, a platform of protesting staff from the tax, customs and VAT departments, announced that demonstrations would continue today and tomorrow, from 12 pm to 5 pm, if their demands are not met.

International passenger services and export-related activities have been kept outside the purview of the strike.

On Monday, the council said it would launch an indefinite countrywide shutdown from Saturday unless the revenue chief is removed and transfer orders for colleagues who led last month's protests are revoked.

The government on May 12 issued a gazette notification, separating revenue policy and implementation, and eventually dissolving the NBR.

The move was being considered a part of a broader reform package aimed at boosting tax collection, one of the key conditions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its ongoing $4.7 billion loan deal.

In response, NBR officials staged protests and work stoppages until May 26.

They postponed the demonstration after the government pledged not to dissolve the NBR but to upgrade it into an independent, specialised agency. Authorities also promised to review and amend the ordinance in this regard.

Since then, however, revenue officials have complained of being excluded from the review process. They allege that key protest figures have been subjected to vengeful transfers and harassment.

The council has also accused the NBR chairman of "trying to destabilise" both the revenue system and the country.

"The expected NBR reform is not possible under the current NBR chairman, as he won't let it happen," said Sehela Siddiqua, general secretary of the council, on Monday.

NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan rejected the allegations but did not comment further.