Petition filed over hike in toll tax
A petition has been filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) challenging the ‘illegal’ hike in toll tax from Islamabad to Lahore to Rs830 over the past two years. In the petition, filed by Advocate Sharif Sabir, it is argued that all new taxes must be passed by the parliament. However, he claimed that the Federal Communications Minister Murad Saeed had unilaterally increased the toll tax even though no such increase was included in the budget for the fiscal year 2020-21. He added that over the past two years, the toll tax for travelling between Islamabad and Lahore had been increased from Rs580 to Rs750 and now to Rs830 “illegally and unlawfully without the approval of the parliament.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2020.