FBR freezes PIA accounts over non-payment of FED

Freezing will not affect its flight operations

KARACHI:

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday again froze the bank accounts of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) due to non-payment of Rs8 billion in Federal Excise Duty (FED).

“A decision has been made to register a first information report (FIR) against the PIA officials for not submitting the FED,” the FBR officials said. “The FED was not submitted despite the accounts being restored last month.”

According to a PIA spokesperson, the freezing of the national carrier’s bank accounts would not affect its flight operations.

“There is contact at the government level. PIA’s accounts would be restored soon,” the spokesperson added.

In July, the FBR had frozen all bank accounts of the PIA over non-payment of taxes.

Subsequently, in the same month, the accounts were restored following the settlement of issues between the FBR and the PIA.

Sources in the FBR said the PIA had not deposited the FED of Rs2 billion for the month of August, which it had collected through plane tickets.