Islamabad Capital Territory

Islamabad : ReNews Pakistan
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has issued a Letter of Acceptance to a Turkish company for the launch of a new waste collection and cleanliness management system in Islamabad, with operations set to begin in the capital’s rural areas before being expanded to urban sectors.
The new system is expected to be formally inaugurated by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on October 13, with the first phase aimed at addressing longstanding waste collection problems in rural Islamabad.
CDA Chairman Sohail Ashraf, Member Environment Abdullah Khurram Niazi and representatives of the Turkish company, operating through the Joint Venture of Atlas Pak Waste Management Company, held a meeting at CDA Headquarters to review preparations for the launch.
During the meeting, company representatives gave a detailed presentation on their operational plans, deployment arrangements and preparations for commencing services. The CDA chairman directed the company to begin operations at the earliest possible date to provide relief to residents of rural areas, stressing that there would be no compromise on service delivery.
Since the Turkish company secured both the urban and rural packages, the CDA has decided to prioritize rural Islamabad. The urban package will be implemented at a later stage, while the CDA will continue managing waste collection in urban areas through its existing machinery and staff in the interim.
Under the new system, waste collected from rural areas will be transported to the transfer station in Sector I-11 before being moved to the Losar landfill site in Rawalpindi.
The CDA also plans to introduce waste segregation at the transfer station. Officials said a recycling facility is being planned as part of the broader waste management strategy, including the proposed use of recovered plastic waste in the production of manhole covers.
Officials said residents of rural Islamabad are expected to see a significant improvement in cleanliness services from next month. The initial deployment will include 103 vehicles and more than 1,300 uniformed workers assigned to waste collection and related operations. The designs and colours of the vehicles and staff uniforms have also been finalized.
The project has received particular attention from Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who has been monitoring efforts to improve municipal cleanliness and waste management services in the federal capital.
The Turkish company secured the contract after submitting a bid of approximately Rs18 billion for both urban and rural packages for a four-year period.
At present, rural areas of Islamabad lack a comprehensive waste collection mechanism. The CDA carries out secondary garbage collection only intermittently, leaving residents in several areas without regular disposal services.
Officials said the absence of a proper collection system has resulted in residents disposing of household waste in open spaces and drainage channels. The decision to start the new system in rural areas was therefore taken to address the most immediate gaps in waste collection services.
The urban waste management package will eventually also be handed over to the same company. Until then, the CDA will continue operating its existing urban cleanliness arrangements with hired machinery and its own workforce.
The award of the contract followed a lengthy bidding process initiated by the CDA in July. During the technical evaluation stage, the Turkish company was initially disqualified, but the CDA subsequently restored its bid after the firm challenged the decision.
The company’s bid was ultimately determined to be the lowest, with a difference of around Rs380 million compared with the competing bid. Another joint venture challenged the CDA’s decision before the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA). After several hearings, however, the matter was decided in favour of the CDA.
The new system is expected to introduce a more structured waste collection, transportation, segregation and recycling mechanism in Islamabad, with the rural rollout serving as the first major phase before the services are extended across the urban areas.

Islamabad | ReNews Pakistan
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has uncovered a major wealth statement manipulation case involving previously undeclared assets worth Rs 9.41 billion, with the investigation also highlighting the use of unexplained funds in immovable property transactions.
The case was detected by the Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation (Inland Revenue) through an analysis of the FBR’s tax database conducted with the support of Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL). The investigation has resulted in the registration of a money laundering case under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.
According to the FBR, its analysis identified 85 taxpayers who revised their wealth statements between March 2025 and June 2026 for tax years ranging from 2014 to 2019. The revised declarations included previously unreported cash, gold, prize bonds, properties and business capital.
The tax authority said these revisions were not legally permissible because Section 116(3) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 does not allow a wealth statement to be revised after five years from the due date of the original return.
A significant case investigated by the Lahore Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation involved a taxpayer who revised a wealth statement for tax year 2015 in May 2026 and declared additional funds amounting to Rs 102.8 million.
The taxpayer subsequently carried the amount forward through wealth statements up to tax year 2025 and used the funds to account for the purchase of seven properties worth Rs 64.41 million during May and June 2026.
The FBR said the taxpayer failed to satisfactorily explain the source of the funds. The amount of tax allegedly sought to be evaded in the case exceeds Rs46 million.
The development highlights the growing importance of wealth declarations and financial trails in property transactions, particularly where substantial amounts are used to acquire immovable assets without a clearly established source of income.
The FBR said its regional intelligence and investigation directorates have initiated 48 criminal inquiries across the country in connection with suspected manipulation of wealth statements. Proceedings in the remaining cases identified through the data analysis are also being processed.
A money laundering case has been registered against the taxpayer involved in the Lahore investigation, as well as any other individuals found to have assisted in the alleged manipulation.
The FBR said its data-analysis capabilities would continue to be used to detect attempts to alter wealth statements, conceal assets and introduce unexplained wealth into the formal tax system.
The latest action also signals increased scrutiny of the relationship between declared wealth, financial resources and immovable property acquisitions, as tax authorities strengthen their use of digital data to trace potentially unexplained assets and property investments.

Islamabad | ReNews Pakistan
Pakistani embedded finance platform and fintech company Abhi has entered into a strategic partnership with UAE based payments infrastructure provider NymCard to support financial institutions in delivering more efficient credit solutions to small and medium sized enterprises in the United Arab Emirates.

Under the partnership, Abhi's business financial solutions will be combined with NymCard's card and payments infrastructure. The integrated technology will support key stages of the SME credit process, including digital onboarding, loan origination, credit decision making and disbursement of approved funds.

According to the companies, banks and licensed financial institutions will be able to streamline traditionally fragmented credit processes through a combined technology platform. The system is designed to support faster onboarding, credit applications and decision making, followed by the disbursement of approved financing.

The partnership also expands the regional footprint of Abhi, which provides digital financial solutions across Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The company says it serves more than one million users and works with more than 7,000 businesses across these markets.

NymCard Chief Business Officer Shiraz Ali said there is significant scope for technology to transform the way SME credit is delivered in the UAE. He said combining the capabilities of Abhi and NymCard could provide financial institutions with tools to reduce complexity, move faster and develop scalable credit solutions.

Abhi AVP for Sales and Partnerships Zain Ali said SMEs require faster and simpler access to financial products, while technology can help banks deliver such services more efficiently. He said integrating Abhi's technology with NymCard's platform could simplify the credit journey for businesses.

Abhi provides financial solutions including Earned Wage Access and SME financing through products such as AbhiSalary, AbhiPayroll, AbhiKarobar and AbhiPay. Its regional operations cover Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

NymCard, meanwhile, provides full stack payments infrastructure for banks, financial institutions and enterprises. The company says it operates across 10 markets, serves more than 60 clients and is a principal member of Visa and Mastercard.

The partnership highlights the growing role of digital financial infrastructure in expanding access to SME financing in the UAE. By combining business finance technology with payments infrastructure, the two companies aim to help financial institutions introduce and scale digital credit products without developing multiple technology components separately.

For Pakistani fintech companies, the expansion also represents a growing regional opportunity in digital finance, payments infrastructure and technology enabled financial services, as businesses and financial institutions increasingly adopt integrated platforms for lending and payments.