Islamic banks told to scrap abaya dress code

A parliamentary panel has restricted Islamic banks from imposing abayas on their female staff, and called for following a modest national dress code for all irrespective of gender. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, presided over by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, on Wednesday took up complaints regarding dress code instructions at certain banks, particularly those running Islamic operations. Senator Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur informed the committee that female employees were allegedly being compelled to wear abayas, although there was no such compulsion for male staff who were free to dress as they chose.

Senator Sherry Rehman argued that no employee should be forced to adopt any specific attire. She remarked that a shalwar kameez, as worn by ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was also sufficient for other women, adding that the state had defined national dress for both genders. State Bank Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmed said that the panel had also issued similar guidelines last year, which had already been conveyed to all banks.

The panel said it had only directed observance of a modest dress code and had never mandated any specific attire. It directed all banks to submit their dress code policies and instructed the SBP to circulate updated guidelines to ensure that no employee was subjected to unnecessary compulsion. The committee also expressed concern over the recovery of dollar-denominated charges on ATM and VISA card transactions as well as SMS alert charges imposed on bank customers, The committee also took up issues relating to taxes collected through electricity bills and matters concerning the salaries and promotions of Senate employees.

During the meeting, Senator Kamil Ali Agha raised the issue of taxes collected through electricity bills, stating that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had collected Rs620 billion through electricity bills and had effectively turned the mechanism into a major source of revenue. He said the burden of taxes on electricity consumers was continuously increasing and claimed that many people were being pushed into severe financial hardship. He added that in some cases, a consumer receiving an electricity bill of Rs13,000 was paying nearly Rs7,000 in taxes, while bills of Rs8,000 included up to Rs4,000 in taxes.

Responding to the concerns, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman said the tax co…