PIA has started inquiry into the alleged embezzlement of airport tax worth Rs 5.6 million at Allama Iqbal International Airport (AIIAP), sources in the national flag carrier revealed on Monday. According to “The Nation”, the issue came to light when PIA’s security manager at Lahore airport on August 25 drew the attention of station manager Lahore about the tax evasion in an email message. The security manager said, “As per directive of CAA every ticket holder got ticket issued prior to August 01 will be liable to pay newly-imposed airport tax on check-in counter. This office is receiving the observations regarding tax collection on various flights which suggests that every check-in agent is depositing the tax equivalent to approximately 30 percent of the total tax which he/she checked in”. It is worth-mentioning here that Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had increased airport tax up to Rs 1,500 as security and infrastructure development charges on international passengers with effect from August 1. The tax was supposed to be collected by PIA staff from passengers at the time of travel and deposit it in CAA account later. This Rs 1,500 tax, per passenger, was in lieu of security and infrastructure development charges and was supposed to be collected by PIA staff from passengers at the time of travel, to be later deposited in the CAA account. How was this really allowed to happen? The PIA Lahore Station Manager has denied the allegations of fraud, where other than the tax amount being quoted wrong, this outbreak is because the passengers had refused to pay. He said the tax was announced ‘all of a sudden’ and PIA staff was asked to collect the same at the time of travel, rather than through travel agent at the time of ticket issuance. He also added that on first day of the imposition of said tax, passengers in bulk refused to pay tax at the time of boarding.These statements are not good enough reasons for letting such a mishap happen. The way the tax was announced is unprofessional and amounts to fleecing unaware passengers. And there is a difference between embezzlement and non-payment is there not? This is yet again another ill-formulated story by the authorities. Who knows what is the real truth? Or is this only to hide the actual crime? The Station manager has issued warning letters to the officers concerned; to deposit the tax on their own, otherwise deductions would be made from their salaries to recover the amount. So did the officers keep the money? Did they not collect it? This is not the way to make sure this kind of incident never happens again.
pk.shafaqna.com
