Dr Asif Mehmood Jah of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) said that the confidence of taxpayers and the general public has enabled the FTO to improve its performance at a considerable rate. He was talking to a delegation of business leaders headed by the Vice President of Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) while the media coordinator of FTO Zia-ul-Haq Sarhaadi was also present.

FTO arranged the meeting to liaise with the business community about the FTO’s new initiative “Instant Justice at Your Doorstep.” Dr Asif Mehmood Jah of the FTO said that under the new initiative the time period of 60 days to respond to complaints by the public has been given up in favor of a more rapid response time. He said that now the complaints were resolved within days or weeks rather than months.

He told the delegation that FTO office has started to act on complaints on the day they are received, even by phone. The requirement that the complaint be submitted in writing in the form of an application has been given up. This has drastically reduced the time in service delivery with more impact on the ground.

He assured the businessmen that any of their complaints with regard to tax administration shall be dealt on priority basis forthwith. All they need to do is visiting a relevant desk of FTO. To provide convenience for the business community and general tax payers, five new desks have been opened in various cities to speed up the process and reduce the red tape involved in lengthy processes.

It is also important to mention here that in the year 2021 FTO received a total of 3371 complaints out of which 2867 were addressed in quick response time. “Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) also received complaints and suggestions forwarded by the FTO,” he said.

To facilitate the operations of FTO, the system has been upgraded using technology. Instant messaging applications like WhatsApp have been included in the system to make it easier for the complainants to approach FTO. Sending a complaint through postal doc or email takes more time than WhatsApp.

Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi for his part lauded the efforts of FTO to offer the general public more convenient services. He expressed hope that initiatives like Instant Justice at Your Doorstep will bring great relief and ease to the business community and general taxpayers.

He said that instant resolution of issues through Instant Justice initiative will have very positive impacts on trade and commercial activities in the country which got stuck due to delays in different government departments.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk