LAHORE, June 12: Thirteen departments of the provincial government were issued recovery notices on Wednesday for default on payment of Rs4.6 million motor vehicles tax.

The departments have been using 524 vehicles for several years without paying the tax.

Transport wing of the Agriculture Department owns 18 such vehicles and owes Rs258,021. The Forest Department has 25 vehicles and owes Rs153,987.

The Irrigation and Power Department’s Mughalpura superintendent engineer has been asked to deposit Rs71,015 for four vehicles used by his office.

The office of the Punjab Police inspector general is the biggest defaulter. It owes Rs2.88 million for its 351 vehicles.

The Social Welfare Department owes Rs28,600 for three vehicle, the Livestock Department Rs329,915 for 59 vehicles, the Fisheries Department Rs2,000 for two vehicles, the Health Department Rs235,551 for 24 vehicles and the Population Department Rs472,000 for 26 vehicles.

The Civil Services Academy is in default of Rs78,000 on account of two vehicles, the Mines and Labour Welfare Department owes Rs28,600 for three vehicles, the district Nazim’s office has not paid Rs31,000 for three of its vehicles and the National Highway Authority chief engineer Rs31,000 for four vehicles.

Notices have been issued to these departments asking them to clear the default by June 30.

A department official said: “this is cumulative default of last many years, more than a decade in some cases.” The departments concerned have taken various pleas for default on payment. The city government, for example, says it should be exempted tax since it maintains the city roads. So does the National Highway Authority. Until such exemptions are notified, the departments should abide by the government’s financial discipline, he said.

An official of one of the defaulting departments, questioned the logic of taxing the vehicles. Why should the government tax the vehicles it owns, he asked. It is like taking money out of one pocket and putting it in the other and wasting a lot of time and energy in the process.

Another official said the provincial government had tried to abolish the tax a few years ago but the then secretary of the Excise and Taxation Department had resisted the proposal because this would bring down the revenue figure.