Sindh’s transport minister calls on federal govt to end sales tax on CNG

KARACHI: Sindh Transport Minister Awais Shah on Monday called on the federal government to end sales tax on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), ARY News reported.

“The decision of increasing the sales tax on CNG will end in increasing public transport fares”, he said in his statement.

Shah said the decision to bring a new wave of inflation as the hike in CNG prices will ultimately lead in the hike in fares in Sindh.

The minister said Sindh producing gas more than any other province and demanded of the PTI led federal government to take back its decision.

He said his party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will support transporters if they initiate any movement against the federal government.

According to the decision of the federal government, the CNG consumers would have to pay Rs69.57 per kilo tax on the CNG supply in region-I, while the region-II consumers would have to pay Rs74.04 per KG sales tax, according to the notification.

Read more: Govt notifies hike in Sales Tax on CNG

The government has increased sales tax for Region-1 from existing Rs64.80 to Rs74.04 per kg, whereas for Region-2 from present Rs57.69 to Rs69.57 per kg.

According to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the region-I comprises of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Gujjar Khan.

Sindh, Pothohar region and other parts of Punjab are part of the region-II, the taxation authority said.