FBR halts purchase of over 1000 new vehicles for its officers

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) plan to purchase over 1000 new vehicles for its officers has been put on hold upon directives from the Senate Standing Committee on Finance.

The board stated that the purchase shall remain suspended until the finance committee is satisfied. The board had referred the issuance of clarity regarding the rules and regulations while purchasing the PPRA Minister, for which the FBR had drawn flak on accounts of the short revenue collection.

The board initially decided to purchase 1200cc vehicles on 1-13-2025, allotting 3 billion as down payment, and decided to make the remaining amount to be paid in instalments. However, now the purchase has been indefinitely scrapped or put on hold.

Earlier, Senator Faisal Vawda criticized the FBR saying there was evidence to show that the officials were misusing the cars for personal purposes.

He even questioned the purchase of over 1000 cars when the revenue collection has fallen short; he cited an example that the FBR had been unable to achieve its 384 billion revenue target but went on to buy cars for the officials.

Further, Vawda advised the board to buy smaller cars such as the 600cc, in place of the proposed 1300cc. He referred to the controversial case of £190 million, which had caused imprisonment and ordered the committee to take note of that; else they would also invite some sort of wrath during their purchase. It’s an important turn-around decision by the FBR, and it would be interesting to see how the situation unfolds.