Foodpanda thanks PRA for sales tax relief

KARACHI: To create a favourable business environment, the Punjab Revenue Authority has decided to reduce the sales tax being charged on the commissions for home-based chefs, a statement said.

The rebate reduced sales tax from 16 per cent to 5 per cent, allowing better profitability and growth potential for home-based chefs operating on online food delivery platforms such as foodpanda, it added.

The home-based chefs are essentially people operating out of their home kitchens who sell food through online platforms such as foodpanda. Foodpanda currently has 5,000+ registered home-based chefs who have been taken onboard after stringent routine checks for food hygiene, quality, safety, packaging, etc.

The company aims at increasing the home-based chefs base in the next two years and take it up to 100,000.

Nauman Sikandar, CEO of foodpanda, said: “A big thank you to the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) from foodpanda and our home-based chefs. The reduction in sales tax being charged on [the] commissions for home-based chefs comes as a welcome respite. This move will help grow a new sector, which has significant potential for financial and economic inclusion, specifically women economic empowerment.”

“It would be ideal that other provinces also follow suit and implement the same for home-based chefs,” he said.

Shahzadi Asghar, a registered home-based chef at foodpanda, while sharing her gratitude said: “It’s very difficult to do business in today’s situation, that too a home-based business. Thanks to foodpanda and PRA, the sales tax is now reduced by 11 per cent, which, in turn, has significantly improved our margins. I am now thinking of expanding my food venture with this favourable initiative.”

The visionary step by the Punjab government must be supported by other provinces, as the sector continues to grow exponentially across the country.