MULTAN: An officer from the Islamabad Collectorate of Customs (Enforcement) has declined the monetary reward offered under the newly introduced Rating and Reward System (RRS), citing concerns over its transparency and fairness.
The officer’s rejection of the reward, reportedly worth three additional salaries, comes amid growing criticism of the RRS, which was launched with claims of being impartial and free from human interference.
However, insiders from both the Customs and Inland Revenue Service (IRS) sectors have raised serious questions about the system’s integrity, according to a local news outlet.
One particularly controversial case involved an officer allegedly receiving Rs. 1.6 million in reward payments despite being named in a list of individuals under investigation for involvement in smuggling. Another officer expressed dismay at having to evaluate the work and integrity of 45 fellow officers, most of whom he had never interacted with.
Fahad Khan, Assistant Collector at the Islamabad Enforcement office, was categorized as a “B” performer and granted a substantial bonus. However, he rejected the classification, stating it implied inefficiency and questioned his integrity—an implication he firmly denied.
In a formal letter, he criticized the process, arguing that evaluations conducted by seniors and peers without direct working relationships were inherently flawed. He clarified that his refusal was not a rejection of institutional recognition but a stand for a merit-based and credible assessment system.
A deeper controversy lies in the background of several officers who received rewards despite being named in an April 3, 2025, report by the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission that linked them to smuggling-related misconduct. These developments have intensified scrutiny of the RRS and the basis on which bonuses were allocated.
Under the current structure, officers had to rate 45 colleagues, placing nine into each of the categories A through E. Those in Category A were eligible for rewards equivalent to 24 months’ salary over six months, with diminishing amounts for lower categories and none for Category E.
Concerns were raised that personal bias or lack of familiarity with colleagues could distort results—especially if an officer rated someone they did not know or had a poor relationship with.
Additional Collector Suleman Yaqub Khan also voiced regret about having to assess officers he was unfamiliar with, admitting the process might have led to unfair evaluations.
The deadline for submitting evaluations was March 27, 2025, yet the results were delayed by over three weeks. Moreover, some officers were reportedly upgraded or downgraded post-evaluation by an “anomaly committee,” though no public documentation or Terms of Reference for this committee have been released.
Adding to the controversy, just days before the system was launched, the Federal Board of Revenue amended reward rules for the IRS and Customs through two statutory regulatory orders (SROs 604(I)/2025 and 704(I)/2025).
Critics have also questioned the evaluation criteria themselves. Integrity was weighted at 60% and performance at 40%, yet no clear guidelines or objective measures were provided to define these standards. Insiders claim that rewards amounting to millions of rupees were distributed with minimal oversight, relying heavily on arbitrary inputs.
In response, a Customs official defended the system, asserting that it was approved by relevant authorities and designed to incentivize good performance. He acknowledged that, like any new system, the RRS may face initial flaws but maintained that it would improve over time. He also downplayed the role of the anomaly committee and dismissed allegations of favoritism or manipulation as baseless and motivated by malice.
