LAHORE: The government of Punjab has decided to reduce the sales tax being charged on commissions for home-based chefs, a statement said.

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

The home-based chefs are essentially people operating out of their home kitchens who sell food through online platforms.

Foodpanda currently has several thousand registered home-based chefs who have been taken on-board after stringent routine checks for food hygiene, quality, safety, packaging, etc.

The company’s aim is to increase the home-based chefs base in the next two years and take it up to 100,000 registered home-based chefs.

Nauman Sikandar, CEO of foodpanda, said: “This initiative by the government of Punjab is in line with our vision of creating a favourable business environment for home-based chefs, as they represent a major segment of our portfolio. 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 [the] suit and implement the same for [the] home-based chefs.”

Zainulabidin Sahi, chairman of the Punjab Revenue Authority, said: “This step by the Punjab government will support [the] home-based entrepreneurs and drive economic viability for a large segment of the society. The home-based chefs business can help create an enabling environment, which is well-aligned with the government’s poverty alleviation plans.”

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