Latest news with #PERA
Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
RCB protests PERA's 'interference'
The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has written a letter to the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner, terming the operations conducted by the Punjab Enforcement Regulatory Authority (PERA) related to encroachments, food, and health within cantonment limits as interference in cantonment affairs. In the letter, Executive Officer Ali Irfan Rizvi expressed serious concerns over PERA and the Health Department's uncoordinated operations against dengue and encroachments, stating that such actions are being carried out without prior intimation. He said these operations amount to interference in the legal jurisdiction of the cantonment board. The letter asserted that the removal of signboards and banners falls solely under the authority of the cantonment board. Actions by PERA and other departments without permission are damaging inter-institutional coordination. According to the letter, operations by PERA within cantonment boundaries are deemed illegal and promote institutional conflict rather than serving the public interest. It further stated that dengue control activities were also initiated without any coordination with the Cantonment Board. Cheque bounced Separately, a cheque worth Rs165 million issued by the contractor of the Bhatta Ground cattle market to the federal government in lieu of income tax has bounced, prompting the RCB to refer the case to the Cantonment Magistrate for recovery. According to sources, the RCB had awarded the cattle market contract for Eidul Azha 2025 to Muin & Co for Rs1.657 billion through open auction. The contractor paid the full contract amount to the board before Eid. However, under the contract, the contractor was also required to pay Rs165 million in income tax directly to the federal government. The contractor issued a cheque for the said amount to the Federal Board of Revenue's Income Tax Department, but it bounced upon deposit. As a result, the RCB has now referred the recovery case to the cantonment magistrate, who has issued a notice to the contractor and initiated proceedings. Under the cantonment board laws, any contractor found in default can be blacklisted. Service tax On the other hand, the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has demanded a five per cent service tax on parking contracts awarded by the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC), which has in turn issued notices to contractors instructing them to pay the tax or face action. According to sources, the municipal corporation recently awarded an 11-month car parking contract for the Commercial Market for Rs8.3 million, which is expected to be revised to Rs15 million. In line with this, parking fees will also be increased. Another contract for parking on College Road, Imperial Market, Liaquat Road, and outside the Municipal Office was awarded for Rs11.3 million. However, due to heavy traffic at Fawara Chowk, the Imperial Market parking site will be excluded from the contract, and the remaining contract will be revised. Car parking fees will be increased from Rs30 to Rs50, while motorcycle parking fees will rise from Rs10 to Rs20. The PRA has now issued a letter instructing the Municipal Corporation to deduct a 5 per cent service tax from the awarded contract amounts and deposit it with the authority.
Business Recorder
02-08-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Operation against sugar profiteers intensified
LAHORE: The Lahore district administration on Saturday intensified its crackdown on sugar profiteers, ensuring the essential commodity is available at regulated prices for the city's residents. According to the administration, the Assistant Commissioners, SDOs from the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (PERA), and Price Control Magistrates have been actively monitoring markets to enforce compliance with fixed rates. The administration's zero-tolerance policy has led to significant actions, including fines imposed on multiple shopkeepers and the sealing of one shop found selling sugar at Rs190 per kg, with a case registered against its owner. To address complaints of sugar shortages in Baghbanpura, the administration swiftly supplied 36 tonnes of sugar to stabilise availability. Commenting on the crackdown, Deputy Commissioner Syed Musa Raza said that sugar would be sold at Rs173 per kg across Lahore, reinforcing the administration's commitment to preventing exploitation through inflated prices. 'The ongoing crackdown targets profiteers and hoarders, with strict penalties for violations. To facilitate reporting, the administration has established a dedicated control room number (0307-0002345) and encouraged residents to use social media platforms to lodge complaints about overpricing,' he added. He made it clear that exploitation under the guise of business will not be tolerated, and the administration is working tirelessly to ensure the availability of essential goods at fair prices. 'These efforts reflect the administration's dedication to protecting Lahore's residents from unfair trade practices, fostering a stable and equitable market environment through proactive enforcement and vigilant oversight,' he added. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The Star
30-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Philippines sees US$1.7bil in retirement fund with new push
MANILA: The Philippine central bank sees around 100 billion pesos (US$1.7 billion) being poured into a voluntary retirement investment programme that could help boost the domestic capital market, according to an official. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Tuesday (July 29) signed an agreement with banks and financial firms to pilot an initiative that will allow them to share financial data, provided the customer agrees. The goal is to make the Personal Equity and Retirement Account, or PERA, more accessible by allowing clients to open a PERA account using their existing personal data from participating financial institutions. "Economically, if just one million Filipinos take full advantage of the programme, we could see 100 billion pesos annually channelled into long-term local investments,' said Eugene Teves, BSP managing director and chief information officer. "That means deeper capital markets and increased financial resilience,' he said. In an interview, ATRAM Group Chief Executive Officer Michael Ferrer said the asset manager, which acts as an administrator of the PERA fund, isn't targeting a particular level of returns as the investment mix is typically based on clients' risk profile. For instance, a balanced portfolio, where stocks and bonds will have a 50-50 sharing, will be a good mix for clients in their mid-30s, he said. "The bonds now offer good rates,' Ferrer said. The Philippine Stock Exchange index also "definitely has an upside from here, maybe 10% to 15%, over the next 12 to 18 months,' he added. - Bloomberg
Bloomberg
30-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Philippines Sees $1.7 Billion in Retirement Fund With New Push
The Philippine central bank sees around 100 billion pesos ($1.7 billion) being poured into a voluntary retirement investment program that could help boost the domestic capital market, according to an official. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Tuesday signed an agreement with banks and financial firms to pilot an initiative that will allow them to share financial data, provided the customer agrees. The goal is to make the Personal Equity and Retirement Account, or PERA, more accessible by allowing clients to open a PERA account using their existing personal data from participating financial institutions.
Boston Globe
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Providence police oversight board slams department for ‘internal failures'
The three-page statement from the oversight board criticizing the city police on Friday afternoon came in light of the Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up Hanley's reinstatement 'should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the structural deficiencies in Rhode Island's police accountability framework,' the oversight board wrote. 'His return to duty, despite his admission to serious allegations of misconduct and a dissenting opinion from a high-ranking police official, reflects the deep-rooted ineffectiveness of current oversight mechanisms.' Advertisement The PERA board is a civilian panel created in 2002 that investigates alleged misconduct by Providence police officers and reviews policies, making recommendations for discipline, policy changes and training. While the group is ultimately advisory, the police department is required to cooperate with its work, and its findings and recommendations are made public. Advertisement The board members are unpaid, but currently has three staff members including an executive director, an administrative assistant and one investigator. Karoly, the executive director, is a lawyer and former deputy chief of the Middletown Police Department. In its letter, the panel claims the police department has ignored the majority of its policy recommendations, and also has not responded to a request to come up with a 'disciplinary matrix,' essentially a guideline for officer misconduct that lays out the recommended punishment for each offense, from harassment to excessive use of force. The ordinance that created the oversight board says the matrix should be developed by the board and the chief of police. 'We submitted one several years ago, and they've just never approved it,' Karoly said. 'It's just kind of stayed in limbo.' Multiple recommendations also went unanswered or were denied, Karoly said. Josh Estrella, a spokesperson for the city, said the police department has responded to policy recommendations, as recently as March of this year. 'The Department has been actively working on a matrix and will continue to respond to PERA's recommendations formally as it relates to discipline or policy,' Estrella said. 'The Providence Police Department remains committed to transparency, accountability and strengthening public trust.' He said the review authority's budget, along with other department budgets, was cut based on 'actual expenditures,' which were lower than the board's budget. Advertisement The budget cuts will limit the group's 'ability to conduct hearings and fulfill our oversight responsibilities,' members wrote. 'These actions do not reflect a commitment to accountability — they are deliberate obstructions.' The oversight board members also said the police department has repeatedly obstructed their investigations, sometimes taking more than a year to provide evidence so the board can review alleged misconduct. In one case, the board said it investigated a complaint from a person who was videotaping and 'verbally criticizing' a sergeant who was arresting someone on Broad Street in 2023. The findings, released May 6, said it took until December 2024 – more than a year – for police to share the case file for the PERA investigator to review. According to the board's findings, the person who was filming the arrest was 20 feet away and did not get in the way of the police, but the sergeant — whose name is redacted — kept engaging with him and 'bumping him with his chest' before having him arrested for disorderly conduct. The charge was later dropped. The police department's internal investigation found the accusations of wrongdoing against the officer were sustained, and gave him a verbal reprimand, according to the oversight board's findings. The board recommended that the punishment be modified to a five-day suspension and eight hours of retraining, but has so far been ignored, Friday's letter claims. 'Instead of cooperation, we have encountered resistance,' the civilian panel wrote. 'The Providence police department must acknowledge and correct its internal failures.' One of the board-recommended changes to the ordinance that created the Providence External Review Authority is that staff be given 'full user access' to police records, including internal investigations and the body-worn camera system, 'so that PERA may efficiently review and or audit all police internal investigations as well as complete its own investigations.' Advertisement The review authority staff members would be 'subject to the same confidentiality requirements as police users and will not disclose personally identifiable information except as allowed by law,' the proposed ordinance says. The oversight board has fought to get evidence in the past. When the city refused for months to release the Then-executive director Jose Batista, who is also a state representative, publicly released the video and was ultimately fired for doing so. (Batista sued for wrongful termination, and later settled with the city for $45,000.) The oversight board was not conducting investigations for a period of time after Batista's firing, but has ramped up its activities under Karoly. Last week, PERA said it would investigate Providence police officers' Related : The letter also criticizes the state law formerly known as the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights, or LEOBOR, which allowed Hanley to return to the force by leaving the decision to a panel of law enforcement officers, not the chief of police. The vote was 2 to 1 to reinstate Hanley. Advertisement While the law was recently But the state law alone cannot be blamed, the panel said. 'Accountability starts at the departmental level, and the issues raised in Sgt. Hanley's case reflect a broader failure within the Providence Police Department,' the board's letter said, citing Deputy Chief Timothy O'Hara's dissent in the LEOBOR case, which stated Hanley was 'a man prone to volatility, a man prone to violence, a man prone to vulgarity, a man prone to untruthfulness, and a man accustomed to lying.' 'The fact that Hanley achieved the rank of Sergeant, served in the Detective Bureau, and held supervisory responsibilities despite internal concerns about his behavior raises troubling questions,' the board wrote. 'We are ready to do our part,' board members said. 'But we cannot improve policing in Providence without the tools, cooperation, and political will necessary to challenge the status quo. The community deserves better — and we will continue to fight for it." Steph Machado can be reached at
