Flour mills in different cities have stopped grinding wheat and supplying flour across the country today, leading to fears of a shortage.
1500 mill owners have gone on strike along with flour dealers, the Flour Mills Association has said.
Chairman Flour Mills Association Asim Raza said, “We will not collect withholding tax. The price of a bag of flour will rise by Rs 200 after imposing withholding tax.”
Today, 73 flour mills in Gujranwala district are completely closed, and more than 60 flour mills in Multan are also shut down. Meanwhile, all 100 flour mills are closed in the four districts of the division.
A spokesperson of the Flour Mills Association stated that after the closure of flour mills in Faisalabad, the supply of 200,000 bags of flour per day has stopped. In contrast, all ten flour mills in Kamalia city and four in Khushab district are closed.
A strike is also taking place in Peshawar on the appeal of the Flour Mills Association, while in Quetta, a strike is being carried out on the call of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association.
Chairman Flour Mills Association (South Zone) Aamir Abdullah told Geo News that flour mills in Sindh have also stopped the supply of flour. “Tax collection is the job of FBR; we should not be made tax agents. Until our demands are approved, the supply of wheat products will remain closed.”
A few days ago, flour mill owners announced a strike while holding a press conference and said that they had tried to negotiate. They stressed that they have conveyed demands to the government that tax collection is not their job.