Public sector advertisements: corruption eating away Rs 25 billions annually: Shah

Chairman Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Syed Khursheed Shah has observed that at least Rs 25 billion per year are being eaten away by corruption on account of public sector advertisements. He gave this observation while chairing the PAC meeting here on Wednesday which took up audit observations of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources of 2013-14. Syed Khursheed Shah directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to present advertisement record of past 10 years before the panel in its next meeting on the subject.
He said that it was difficult to find a news item in national newspapers as they all are filled with advertisements. He said that not only the federal government but provincial governments including various departments of Sindh government are also releasing multibillion rupees advertisement every year. Audit officials informed the panel that Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet in 2009 approved crude oil supply from an oil field of state-owned Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) in 2009 to Byco Refinery.
At that time all the local refineries refused to purchase local produced crude oil, but Byco Refinery took 14 months to ink a deal with PPL and after the passage of 8 years the company has not paid Rs 1.18 billion to PPL. The dispute between PPL and Byco over the payment of Rs 1.18 billion landed in Sindh High Court in 2013, while the court has yet not decided the case.
Managing Director (MD) Pakistan State Oil, Sheikh Imranul Haque briefing the panel on oil prices said that per litre of crude oil costs Rs 30-35 to company which at present after refining process, dealers margin, transportation costs, general sales tax and other state duties costs over Rs 69 per litre to end consumers.
The chairman committee suspended the proceedings after PSO officials failed to satisfy the panel on the nature of different taxes imposed on petroleum products. The committee asked the Petroleum Ministry and PSO officials to give a comprehensive briefing to panel on the total amount collected in the form of various taxes from petrol and diesel.