KARACHI: Senate Committee on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatization would take up the issue of upgradation of Customs BS-16 officers into BS-17 on Tuesday, November 10, 2015.
The Committee meeting would also take a briefing from Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on revenue targets of first quarter ended September 30, 2015.
Chairman Senate Committee Saleem Mandviwala would chair the meeting.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in a summary forwarded to Establishment Division has maintained that there is no legal anomaly in the proposed up-gradation of senior BPS-16 officers of Customs into BPS-17 adding that all the concerns had already been addressed.
Establishment Division had returned the summary forwarded by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) suggesting up-gradation of senior BPS-16 officers of Customs into BPS-17 and market several anomalies.
Highlighting the anomalies, Cabinet Division noted that Civil Servants Act, 1973 requires promotion to be from a post in lower pay scale to a post in higher pay scale. FBR responded that post of Principal Appraiser, Superintendent Preventive and Superintendent Customs fall in BPS-16, the two sub-ordinate tiers were upgraded in BS-16, hence the middle tiers have been declared as dying tiers/posts.
Cabinet Division objected the post of Assistant Collector (BS-17) is filled in 75 percent by initial appointment through CSS and 25 percent from the department cadre. Customs Superintendent, Superintendent Preventive and Principal Appraiser are the feeding posts of Assistant Collector and placing the feeding post and the promotion post in the same pay scale will result in a hierarchical anomaly.
FBR responded that the proposed upgradation of BS-16 officers was without any change in job-description and their upgradation will not affect the sphere of duty of the Assistant Collector because Assistant Collector belongs to Pakistan Customs Service while the BS-16 officers belong to Departmental Cadre of Customs. Even after upgradation to BS-17 they being subordinate cadre will report to Assistant Collector.