The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended the verdict of 200 percent increase in Islamabad Property Tax and ordered Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation to collect the property tax as per the old tax rates, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiani issued the reserved verdict of the case and ordered tax collection is not the ambit of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and only Metropolitan Corporation will collect the tax property tax. The court has also directed to conduct an audit of CDA’s collected tax since 2015.

The IHC earlier accepted the petitions regarding the increase of property tax in Islamabad that was filed by Jamat-e-Islami and other citizens of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), the TV channel reported. 

It is pertinent to note that Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) approved the increase in property tax in 2018 making it applicable from July 1, but tensions between the MCI and Capital Development Authority (CDA) over who would control the revenue directorate responsible for collecting property tax meant that the distribution of property tax bills was delayed.