PAC seeks reply on low quality of vehicle production

Parliamentary panel reviews audit objections of FBR for 2019-20

ISLAMABAD:

The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday took notice of poor quality of the domestically produced vehicles, summoning the officials concerned of the industries and production ministry for a briefing on the matter.

The committee, which met here with its Chairman Rana Tanveer Hussain in the chair to review the audit objections of the Federal Board of Revenue for 2019-20, received a briefing on the non-recovery of arrears in various field formations.

During the meeting, the chairman emphasised the need for recovery of the arrears. He said the FBR officials had made some recoveries. Committee member Shahida Akhtar Ali said that the FBR should give a timeframe for the recovery.

Committee member Shibli Faraz said that the FBR had its own legal department, therefore, some cases might have been settled.

Other members pointed out that people paid taxes but what if the amount did not reach the government coffers.

During the meeting, it was pointed out that goods seized by the FBR were not auctioned in time. Senator Talha Mahmood said that the seized vehicles were sold only when they were rusted away and nothing was left in them.

The chairman said that the police kept the recovered vehicles for themselves. Manza Hassan said that most of the vehicles of parliament were broken down.

Read: Biggest tax scam surfaces in FBR

The FBR officials replied that they had developed a policy for the use of tempered vehicles, adding that they could be given to the government departments.

Khawaja Asif raised the issue of poor quality of new vehicles produced in the country, saying that there were no airbags in them. Because of it, he added, no car could be exported from Pakistan. The committee summoned the industries and production ministry officials on the issue.