The Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Asim Ahmad, has asked Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif to increase the salaries of FBR employees by 150 percent.
He has also requested the Minister of Finance, Miftah Ismail, to move a summary to the PM for the enhancement of the existing Fixed FBR Incentive of the FBR’s employees to 150 percent of their running basic pay instead of the FBR performance allowance to bring their compensation package on par with organizations like the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The federal Cabinet recently approved in principle to give an Executive Allowance equal to 150 percent of the basic salary to grades 17 to 22 government officials working in the federal Secretariat on the pattern of the provinces. The FBR’s officers were excluded on the grounds that they were already receiving a special allowance, as mentioned in a letter.
Ahmad stated that representations from several FBR employees have been received, requesting a review of this decision, claiming that the FBR Performance Allowance has been frozen since 2015 to a level that is now about 20 percent of the basic pay.
In comparison, the employees of many other organizations are receiving special allowance/incentives that amount to 100 to 150 percent of their basic pay.
This disparity is resulting in the demoralization of the FBR employee, which may negatively affect their vital revenue collection efforts.
To remove the disparity in the salary structure, it has been proposed that the summary for the enhancement of the existing Fixed FBR Incentive of the FBR’s employees to 150 percent of their running basic pay instead of the FBR Performance Allowance be moved to the PM to bring their compensation package on par with organizations like the NAB and the FIA.
