Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday recommended that all top category banks of the country should be allowed to collect passport fee to facilitate the people.
The committee, headed by Chairman Syed Khursheed Shah, was held in the parliament house to examine the audit reports of Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Ports and Shipping for the year 2013-14.
The committee discussed the proposal floated by Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) Rana Asad Amin to allow top category banks to collect passport fee and recommended that the relevant department should look into the matter.
“We need to facilitate the masses and make the process easier,” he remarked.
Director General Immigration and Passport, Usman Akhtar Bajwa informed that last year around 4.5 million passports were made, generating revenue around Rs 22 billion.
The committee expressed the concern over increase from Rs 2 to Rs 25 as commission being charged by National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on each passport application without approval of the ministry of finance since 2005.
Audit report said the increase in charges was made without the concurrence of finance ministry and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Members of the committee declined the proposal of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) that parliamentarians could also verify the nationality of a person for obtaining or re-verifying the Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC).
The ministry’s officials informed about the latest position of court cases on the issues of non-recovery of dues from Expo City and Small and Medium Industrial Parks for the non-recovery of land’s occupancy charges.