LHC serves notices in Petroleum Development Levy case

LAHORE: Lahore High Court on Wednesday heard a petition challenging the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) and served notices to parties in the case.

The bench summoned reply of the respondents over the matter.

Petitioner’s counsel argued that increasing the petroleum levy to an extraordinary level has been an unlawful act. “The petroleum products have been made a mean of revenue generation instead of a public convenience”, lawyer said.

“An unjust taxation without legitimacy, has affected transporters and small businesses,” petitioner’s lawyer said.

The lawyer pleaded to the court for a prompt order of a significant cut in the petroleum development levy.

The Pakistan government is expected to set a target of Rs1.727 trillion in petroleum levy collections for the next financial year, ARY News reported on Sunday, citing well-informed sources.

The proposed target would be around Rs292 billion higher than the current fiscal year’s benchmark and approximately Rs157 billion above the expected collection for the ongoing year.

Sources said the government is on track to comfortably achieve the current fiscal year’s petroleum levy target of Rs1.468 trillion. During the first eleven months of the fiscal year, from July to May, petroleum levy collections reached Rs1.43 trillion.

An additional Rs140 billion is expected to be collected in June, which could take total receipts to around Rs1.57 trillion by the end of the fiscal year—roughly Rs100 billion above the original target.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman recently said that Rs. 8,066 billion have been recovered from the people since the petroleum levy comes into force in 2001.