LAHORE - PIA Station Manager, Allama Iqbal International Airport (AIIAP) has held PIA employees responsible for pocketing Rs. 6.5 million collected under the Airport Tax last year, sources in the national carrier told The Nation on Monday.
The issue came to light on August 25, 2015, when PIA’s Security Manager at AIIAP drew the attention of Station Manager Tariq Majeed towards it via an email message, which read, “As per directive of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), every passenger, who got ticket issued prior to August 01, will be liable to pay the newly-imposed Airport Tax at check-in counter. It has come to the office’s notice that tax is being collected from the passengers boarding various flights, meaning that every check-in agent is depositing the tax equivalent to approximately 30 percent of the total tax.”
It is worth-mentioning here that CAA increased the Airport Tax up to Rs 1,500 as security and infrastructure development charges for international passengers, with effect from August 1, 2015.
It was supposed to be collected by the PIA staff from the passengers and then to be deposited in CAA’s account.
But certain airline officials collected the same tax from passengers between August 01 and Aug 24, and put it in their own pockets, rather than depositing it the national exchequer.
It is worth mentioning here that at all other international airports, an official of accounts section is deputed to collect the amount from the passengers and then deposit the same in the national exchequer; at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport, however, it was the opposite.
When the matter was brought to the notice of Tariq Majeed, he insisted the amount was Rs 2.5 million, and not Rs 6.5 million. He further pleaded the amount had not been embezzled, but the passengers refused to pay the same.
“Increase in tax was announced all of a sudden, and the PIA staff was asked to collect it at the time of travel rather than through the travel agents at the time of issuance of tickets,” he reasoned.
He further said that on the first day, passengers in bulk refused to pay the tax at the time of boarding.
“By chance, on the first two days, there were 10 to 15 international flights on which hundreds of passengers were travelling, who reused to pay the tax,” he argued.
PIA eventually started the inquiry into the alleged embezzlement of the Airport Tax. The inquiry team, headed by Cargo Manager, Lahore Khalid Usman, and including two other members, disclosed their findings in March 2016, and recommended the recovery of Rs.6.5 million from the responsible officials.
Consequently, the PIA station manager issued warning letters to 28 officers concerned to deposit the tax on their own; otherwise the amounts would be deducted from their salaries.
Interestingly, there are some officers, among them, who never performed duties at international counters.
And the same officers have pleaded not guilty and sought justice from the court. They include Zaigham Abbas, Kaleem Khan, Sadia Nawab and others.