KARACHI: President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Muhammad Jawed Bilwani has strongly urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take immediate notice of the ongoing technical failures in the Federal Board of Revenue’s IRIS portal, which have severely disrupted tax compliance and are causing grave difficulties for businesses across Pakistan. In a formal letter addressed to the prime minister, KCCI president highlighted that thousands of tax-compliant businesses are unable to file their sales tax returns due to serious flaws in the IRIS system. Most notably, the portal has arbitrarily restricted the Unit of Measurement (UOM) to only “Kilograms,” which is wholly impractical for many industries that rely on alternative units such as number of pieces (pcs), litres, or metres. “This kind of technical oversight reflects a shocking lack of understanding of the diverse nature of our industries, including bulk manufacturers, pharmaceutical, and shoe manufacturers, etc,” stated Bilwani. “It is technically incompetent and administratively unjustifiable. The consequence is that businesses are being penalized through no fault of their own.” Despite assurances from the FBR that the issue was being addressed following its acknowledgment on March 20, 2025, no meaningful improvement has been witnessed. “The matter remains unresolved, and businesses are facing severe consequences simply for attempting to comply with a flawed system,” he added. The president KCCI also expressed deep disappointment over the indifferent attitude of senior FBR officials. He recounted a recent visit to the FBR Head Office in Islamabad, where he arrived punctually at 9 am to meet with the Member (Sales Tax) — only to be kept waiting for an hour with no response, as the official failed to appear in his office. During the visit, the Chief Sales Tax Officer, Dr Ali Adnan Zaidi,…