ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has assured that “transparency” would be ensured in the procurement of 1,010 vehicles for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) after the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue urged to call off the acquisition.
“Procuring vehicles for the FBR officials is an important requirement... They cannot just sit in offices and continue their work,” the minister said in response to a letter by Senate Standing Committee Chairman Senator Saleem Mandviwalla.
In a letter dated January 22, Senator Mandviwalla highlighted apprehensions regarding the procurement process, emphasising that the timing and scale of such an acquisition raised “considerable doubts about the transparency and integrity of the process” which needed further review.
The tax authority issued a letter of intent on January 13 for the Rs6 billion procurement. The first phase will see 500 vehicles delivered, with an advance payment of Rs3 billion already made.
The delivery schedule for the vehicles is planned in phases, beginning with 75 units in January, followed by 200 in February, and 225 in March. The second phase will include 250 vehicles in April and the final 260 in May.
Mandviwalla stated in the letter that committee members, during a recent meeting, pointed to the deliberate exclusion of competitors in the bidding process, raising suspicions of mismanagement and mala fide intent. The procurement, estimated to be significant in scope and expense, has been criticised for compromising the principles of transparency and fairness — fundamental tenets of government procurement policies.
The letter requested that the purchase order issued to the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) should be cancelled and the payment should be halted.
Responding to the reservations, the finance minister said that the FBR officials would have to go to the field to improve tax collection.
Aurangzeb noted that all companies supplying vehicles were based in Pakistan, assuring that no company would be mistreated in the procurement process.
With the commitment of the Finance Ministry to ensure transparency in procurement of vehicles for FBR’s operation purposes, this controversy triggered the approval of summary for purchasing 1010 vehicles up to 1300cc engine capacity.
However, the procurement committee of the FBR and its concerned officers were reluctant to sign any document under which the FBR had negotiated with one of the companies for vehicles having engine capacity of over 1300cc with capacity of 1327cc. This reluctance of the procurement committee forced the FBR for negotiating the procurement of 1010 vehicles from another company. Finally, the FBR issued letter of intent to the second company and abandoned deal with the first one.
Later, the FBR issued letter of intent to one of the major company for procurement of 1010 vehicles in two batches with specification of navigation system with reverse camera, high grade interior, free four period maintenance (20,000 km or 12 months), 4th year extended warranty (4 years or 100,000 km subject to regular maintenance at the company’s authorised dealer, FBR logos on both front doors and front windscreen, price include freight and delivery charges while the company will also install tracker with one year service charger at Rs8500 exclusive of tax for which the FBR will bear the cost.
In the first batch, the FBR ordered 75 vehicles in January 2025, 200 in Feb 2025 and 225 in March 2025. In the second batch, the FBR ordered delivery of 250 vehicles in April 2025 and 260 vehicles in May 2025. This scribe sent out question to the Minister for Finance but got no response till the filing of this report. The sources said that efforts were made to convince the FBR for sending another summary for seeking approval of PM for procuring vehicles up to 1350cc but the FBR high ups refused to do so because it would have clearly indicated that they wanted to get 1010 vehicles from one specific company. Now the sources said that FBR might suggest the government allow third party validation either from PPRA or Ministry of Law to ensure transparency in this whole deal.