PESHAWAR, Aug 27: The NWFP government is expecting to raise Rs216 million during the current financial year through its new levy ‘fuel toll tax’, according to official sources.

The new levy got into effect subsequently after the World Bank released $95 million to NWFP in line with an agreement between the two sides.

As per the agreement between the NWFP government and the World Bank the former would raise the sizes of its direct and indirect taxes.

In this respect, said the sources, apart from improving the performance of the tax collection machinery, rates of taxes, user charges and various types of fees being collected by the provincial government would be revised upward over a period of next three financial years.

Besides, the NWFP government, they said, had also committed to introducing a new levy in the form of user charges. The new levy has been named as ‘fuel toll tax’ and it is likely to be collected from consumers through petrol pumps and filling points.

“The mode of collection has not yet been decided, though the new levy has come into effect after the World Bank released loan to the province from its structural adjustment credit (SAC) facility,” said a well-placed government functionary.

The sources told Dawn that though the new levy had come into effect, the provincial government had not yet started collection of the same from consumers.

They said it would take some time to start collecting fuel toll tax from every consumer, who bought petrol or diesel from the filling point. “The issue has yet to be decided, though a decision to the effect of introducing the new levy has been made under the agreement with the World Bank,” said the sources.

The new levy would lead to add to the list of various types of user charges the provincial government is collecting from the general public through its community, economic and social services.

Though the provincial government’s budgetary estimates and recovery targets on account of provincial own receipts for the new financial year do not reflect the fuel toll tax, recovery under the same new head has been reflected under a separate budgetary document containing the provincial government medium term budgetary framework (MTBF) for the next four financial years.

The provincial government, said the sources, qualified for the World Bank loan on the basis of its MTBF and the provincial reforms programme duly submitted to the World Bank for setting benchmarks for the next three years to qualify for the second and third tranche of the World Bank loan.

Given the future provincial government, according to the provincial finance minister, ensures effective implementation of the provincial reforms programme the province may also get the second and third tranche of over $90 million during the financial years 2003-04 and 2004-05.

The MTBF, according to the sources, involved a projection of Rs216 million the provincial government is anticipating to raise through the new levy — fuel toll tax.

However, for the next three financial years, i.e. 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06, no increase has been reflected under the fuel toll tax head which has been projected to remain static at Rs216 million in each of the next three financial years.