MULTAN: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), Dr. Asif Mahmood Jah, has directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to expedite the release of reward payments for informers and retired officials of Customs Intelligence within one month. The directive follows a series of complaints filed by retired officials, including a former Superintendent of Customs Intelligence in Islamabad, seeking long-delayed reward payments.
In a detailed order, the FTO instructed the FBR to ensure that the Director General of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (I&I), Islamabad, addresses the pending claims of Mr. Tariq Malik and the associated informer cited in the complaint within the next 30 days.
Further, the FTO has called on the FBR to issue instructions to all directorates within I&I-Customs to resolve outstanding reward cases for retired employees according to the order’s chronological guidelines.
The FTO’s directive also requires the Director I&I-Customs (Headquarters), Islamabad, to ensure that all I&I directorates comply with instructions issued by the DG I&I-Customs on August 19, 2024. Compliance reports are to be submitted within 45 days.
The Ombudsman’s decision underscores the importance of timely recognition of informers and retired officials for their contributions, highlighting concerns over delays in processing reward payments that have affected morale within Customs Intelligence ranks.
