NBR officials' strike continues since morning, work suspended

A work abstention is currently underway at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) building in Agargaon of Dhaka, in protest against the ordinance issued to dissolve the NBR.

Most of the customs and tax officials and employees have gathered on the ground floor near the main entrance of the NBR building. The two main entry gates remain closed.

This has been the situation since 9:00 am today, Sunday. This has effectively halted all operations at the NBR. The protest has been continuing for several days under the banner of the NBR Reform Unity Council.

The government on 12 May issued an ordinance dissolving the NBR and the Internal Resources Division (IRD), replacing them with two new divisions named the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Management Division. The NBR officials and employees have been protesting against the decision since.

While visiting the scene in person this morning, officials were found gathered at the main entrance and in the auditorium on the first floor shortly after 9:00 am.

As of 12:30 pm, the NBR chairman had not yet arrived at his office. Like Saturday, a large number of police officers, including female members, were stationed both inside and outside the building.

Some officials had sat down in front of the main gate holding placards. Meanwhile, the main gate was closed and no vehicles were able to enter or exit the premises. So, the officials entered the building on foot.

All escalators in the building were switched off from the morning. But, one of them was later turned back on. All operations of the electronic security check points at the entrances remained suspended. However, Ansar personnel were still stationed at the gates.

The NBR Reform Unity Council on Saturday afternoon announced their protest programmes for the next two days.

According to the announcement, a complete work abstention is being carried out today, Sunday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in all offices of the income tax, customs, and VAT departments, except for export, international passenger service and customs stations.

Tomorrow, Monday, there will be a complete work abstention in all offices of the income tax, customs, and VAT departments excluding the international passenger services.

The NBR Reform Unity Council has put forward four main demands. The demands include immediate abolition of the issued ordinance, immediate removal of the current NBR chairman, releasing the revenue reform advisory committee’s recommendations for public on the website, and ensuring sustainable revenue system reforms with the opinions of all stakeholders, including aspiring organisations, business organisations, civil society and political leadership.