THE government has introduced new taxes for PIA employees and there is no distinction between regular and retired employees. This is unjust, for retired employees cannot afford to bear the burden of these taxes.

According to the Finance Act-2014, the government increased FED rate on services provided or rendered in respect of travel within Pakistan by air as Rs2,500 for long routes, Rs1,250 on short routes, and Rs500 on socio-economic routes, while 4pc tax is also levied on international travelling.

This is affecting retired employees severely because they are already under burden and this taxation is further burden them as they are not able to enjoy the facility of travelling once allowed to them by the airline.

This taxation is adding to the woes of the retired employees at a time when there has been no increase in their pensions since long. Almost every year there is a plausible increase in the pensions of federal and provincial government employees at the time of budgets, but this is not the case with the retired employees of the airline though their pensions are very low as compared to other government departments.

The national airline gives its employees 32pc of their total salary as pension but the formula (which was adopted in 2003) it applies in the end makes the pension calculated on their basic pays. This is not just. As per rules all other government organisations give their retired employees 50pc of their salaries as pensions. This was also in practice at PIA till the end of 2003.

The retired employees have been demanding since long that the airline should either give them 50pc pension on the basic pay or make the 32pc pension to be given on their total salaries without the said formula.

Another option is that the government and the airline should either increase the pensions of the retired employees to compensate for this taxation or spare the retired employees from this burden.

In the end I would like to make an appeal to Finance Minster Ishaq Dar to look into this issue and try to resolve the problem of PIA’s retired employees

Bashir Ahmad

Ex-GM PR, PIA

Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play