63 years of unpaid rents get in way of Ctg custom reconstruction | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
June 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2025
63 years of unpaid rents get in way of Ctg custom reconstruction

Economy

Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury
11 September, 2023, 09:10 am
Last modified: 11 September, 2023, 11:59 am

Related News

  • Commonwealth offers support in Bangladesh reform process 
  • Dhaka's Eid waste cleanup mostly satisfactory with some hiccups
  • Bangladesh's growth forecast unchanged: WB report
  • Mercantile Bank withholds dividend amid Tk1,700cr provision shortfall
  • BNP, allies firm on Dec polls date

63 years of unpaid rents get in way of Ctg custom reconstruction

Over the last 63 years, customs has not made a single payment, resulting in a total dues of Tk13.61 crore

Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury
11 September, 2023, 09:10 am
Last modified: 11 September, 2023, 11:59 am
File Photo of Chattogram Port: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
File Photo of Chattogram Port: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS

The reconstruction of buildings and facilities of the Chattogram Custom House hit a roadblock as the Chattogram Port, the landowner, demanded that the customs authorities clear unpaid rent for over six decades first.

According to the Port Authority Act, the customs house is obligated to pay annual rent for an 8.33-acre plot of land at the port on which it was built in 1960. However, over the course of 63 years, customs has not made a single payment, resulting in a total outstanding due of Tk13.61 crore.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has undertaken the initiative to demolish the old and dilapidated buildings at the customs house and construct new buildings and facilities at a cost of Tk715 crore.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

It is part of a Tk1,686 crore project, which also includes the development of the VAT Training Academy, the feasibility study of Dhaka Custom House, Benapole Custom House, and the Customs Risk Management Commissionerate.  The World Bank will finance the project.

But the customs is unable to get construction plan approval from the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) without a no-objection letter from the port, which has turned down repeated requests unless the arrears are paid.

According to data from the custom house, as the buildings are old and the space is not compacted, there is constant complication in the collection of government revenue.

According to the port authorities, it pays municipal tax at the commercial rate for the said land. According to the law, there is no scope to allow the construction of any new facility without paying the rent. It said it has conveyed the matter to the customs authorities through several letters.

On 27 August, the estate department of the port informed the customs that it owed Tk13.61 crore, including VAT, for the rent of 8.3361 acres of land from 1961 to 2023. The port requested that the customs authorities pay this outstanding amount through a Treasury challan.

The Chattogram Custom House says it collects about Tk60,000 crore annually, but it is not authorised to spend the money without the government's approval.  

Faizur Rahman, commissioner at Chattogram Custom House, told The Business Standard that the issue has also been discussed with the port authorities. "We have written to the National Board of Revenue for payment of the due rent. We hope to get an allocation soon."

Dhaka Custom House Commissioner AKM Nurul Huda Azad is the project director of the whole project including the construction of new buildings for the Chattogram customs.

In this regard, Chattogram Custom House spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Md Bodruzzaman Munshi told TBS that the project director had a meeting with Chattogram Custom House officials last August regarding the construction of the buildings. The project director has recently sought the opinion of the officials regarding the construction.

According to data from the Chattogram port, the customs department is also not paying the rent of the new auction shed built on five acres of the port. Since 2016, the customs department has owed about Tk5 crore to the port for the rent of the auction shed.

According to data from the port's estate department, in 2016, the port built a new auction shed on a 5-acre area to relocate the customs' old auction shed within the port yard. No response was received despite multiple letters. The port authority wrote again on 24 August for payment of Tk5.13 lakh for the rent of the auction shed.

When contacted, Chattogram Port Authority Secretary Md Omar Farooq said that he would talk about it later as he was out of the country.

Top News

Chittagong Port / unpaid / rents / Bangladesh

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Bangladesh's growth forecast unchanged: WB report
    Bangladesh's growth forecast unchanged: WB report
  • Faiz Ahmad Tayeb. Photo: BSS
    Import duty on raw materials for e-bikes, lithium batteries reduced from 80% to 1% in some cases: Faiz Taiyeb
  • Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who departed Israel by plane on Tuesday after being detained aboard the Gaza-bound British-flagged yacht "Madleen" after Israeli forces boarded the charity vessel as it attempted to reach the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade, talks to journalists surrounded by French police as she arrives at a terminal at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, in Roissy-en-France near Paris, France, June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
    Greta Thunberg says she was kidnapped by Israel in international waters

MOST VIEWED

  • Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS
    Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon
  • A file photo of Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur. Photo: Collected
    'I have no relation with this': Ahsan Mansur debunks Joy’s allegations over daughter’s Dubai flat
  • Faiz Ahmad Tayeb. Photo: BSS
    Import duty on raw materials for e-bikes, lithium batteries reduced from 80% to 1% in some cases: Faiz Taiyeb
  • Screengrab from video shows a group of local youths forcing tourists to leave a tourist spot in Utmachhra area of Sylhet's Companiganj on Sunday, 8 June 2025, citing allegations of obscene activities and environmental damage
    Locals declare tourist spot in Sylhet 'closed', force visitors to leave
  • Shakil Ahmed. Photo: Collected
    DU student allegedly hangs himself following threats over old derogatory comment about Prophet on Facebook
  • Photo shows the Land Cruiser Prado car belonging to former member of parliament (MP) Anwarul Azim Anar found in Kushtia. Photo: TBS
    Luxury car of ex-AL MP Anar, who was killed in Kolkata, found in Kushtia

Related News

  • Commonwealth offers support in Bangladesh reform process 
  • Dhaka's Eid waste cleanup mostly satisfactory with some hiccups
  • Bangladesh's growth forecast unchanged: WB report
  • Mercantile Bank withholds dividend amid Tk1,700cr provision shortfall
  • BNP, allies firm on Dec polls date

Features

Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

12h | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

1d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

3d | Bangladesh
Illustration: TBS

Unbearable weight of the white coat: The mental health crisis in our medical colleges

6d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Greta Thunberg deported from Israel

Greta Thunberg deported from Israel

14h | TBS World
BNP is not a revolutionary party: Mirza Fakhrul

BNP is not a revolutionary party: Mirza Fakhrul

14h | TBS Today
News of The Day, 10 JUNE 2025

News of The Day, 10 JUNE 2025

12h | TBS News of the day
Trump sends 2,000 more National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles

Trump sends 2,000 more National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles

15h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net