NBR resumes operations after nearly two weeks’ disruption, Ctg port deliveries returning to normal

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) resumed normal operations across the country today, with all employees returning to work following government assurances to meet their four-point demand after a nearly two-week disruption that began on 14 May.

While visiting different rooms of the Revenue Building at Agargaon, all officials and employees were seen engaged in their duties.

"We have returned to work following government assurances, we do hope everything will be fine," said an official wishing anonymity.

Mentioning that all the tax, VAT and customs houses around the country resumed normal activities today, the council leaders said they will make up for the losses that were incurred during their strike by working additional hours.

Protesting officials, however, demanded the removal of NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan by Thursday (29 May).

Customs operations resume at Ctg Port

Import and export clearance activities also resumed in full swing at the Custom House, Chattogram.

Customs officials are now actively engaged in all functions related to the clearance and assessment of import and export consignments. As a result, cargo deliveries at the port are steadily returning to normalcy.

Port operations were severely disrupted due to the strike over the dissolution of NBR, leading to a sharp decline in container deliveries and causing congestion in the yards. 

However, officials are optimistic that the backlog will be cleared within a day or two, significantly easing the container jam with the resumption of customs activities.

Custom House officials confirmed that operations resumed after the central announcement to call off the strike. Clearing and Forwarding (C&F) agents, importers, exporters, and employees have returned to the customs house to process consignments.

Confirming the resumption, Saidul Islam, deputy commissioner and spokesperson of the Custom House, told The Business Standard, "Although there was a complete work stoppage from 9am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, some work was still done after 5pm. We expect to clear the backlog within the next few days."

According to sources, Custom House processes approximately 2,000 bills of entry for imports and 5,000 export bills daily. Of these, 1,200 to 2,500 import consignments are typically assessed and cleared each day.

C&F agents reported that during the strike over the weekend, customs clearance operations dropped by up to 90%, causing a significant disruption to port logistics.

Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, general secretary of the Chattogram C&F Agents Employees' Union, said, "Customs officials resumed their duties this morning. Document submission and assessment activities have restarted. We urge officials to intensify their efforts to recover from the losses incurred during the two-day strike."

Protesters demand removal of chairman by Thursday

Officials and employees protesting at the NBR have now demanded the removal of NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan by Thursday.

Accusing Abdur Rahman of playing hide and seek during the drafting of the ordinance to repeal NBR and his inability to play a proper role regarding this issue, NBR Reform Unity Council raised the demand today.

During a press briefing at NBR headquarters in the capital, the tax officers raised some other demands, including bringing about necessary amendments to the ordinance by 31 July and making the recommendations of the Revenue Reform Committee public.

"We will observe continuous non-cooperation with the NBR chairman due to the crises of trust and reliance that have been created," said NBR Deputy Commissioner Shahadat Jamil.

During the briefing, the protesters also demanded to appoint an interim chairman who will be adept at drafting tax and revenue policies, collecting and managing revenue, and full of real-life work experience.

Leaders of the council said the NBR chairman has played hide and seek during each step of the drafting of the ordinance.

Besides non-cooperation with NBR officials, Abdur Rahman also created barriers when it came to informing the government about the hopes and expectations of the NBR officials regarding a revenue structure for the future, they said.

Business leaders and economists, however, consider the demand for the removal of NBR chairman to be excessive.

Towfiqul Islam Khan, senior research fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, told TBS, "It would not be appropriate for NBR officials to escalate the situation any further. Since the government has stepped in and opened the door to a solution, they should now think about de-escalation."

Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, executive president of BKMEA, said, "The current NBR chairman is one of the few skilled and honest officers I have seen In my 25 years in business. The demand for his removal does not seem reasonable."

"He stopped the manual audit system to prevent harassment and bribery of taxpayers, yet the officials are demanding his removal."

The NBR Reform Unity Council started pen-down on 14 May and suspended it on 19 May following a government proposal for dialogue, initiated under the directive of the chief adviser.

Later, they started full scale work abstention from Saturday to press home their demands.

As a meeting with the Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on 21 May was unsuccessful, the Reform Unity Council on Wednesday announced a series of new programmes, including ongoing non-cooperation with the NBR chairman, to press home their demands.

On Sunday night, the finance ministry through a press release said that the NBR will be elevated to the status of an independent and specialised division under it. 

The government issued further clarification to eliminate any ambiguity regarding its position on the Revenue Policy and Administration Reform Ordinance 2025, saying the ordinance will not be implemented until amended after consultation with all relevant stakeholders. This led to the protesters calling off their strike.