Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) commonly known as Radio Pakistan is facing deep financial crisis and is on the verge of closure. Information Secretary Taimoor Azmat has categorically said that government was not in a position to provide financial support to PBC. According to him, the PBC would have to explore other sources of income to become self-reliant.
To keep the state-run institution alive, head of PBC has come up with a novel idea of levying radio tax on mobile phone users. Earlier, the government levied television license fee and added the same in electricity bills. Interestingly, license fee was added in electricity bills of mosques, churches, temples and on those poor people who did not own television sets.
With the decision of charging two percent radio tax on mobile users on every recharge, people with mobile phone sets that do not have radio in it are perplexed. Religious head of the mosque of my locality was asking me the other day if he too will have to pay radio tax whereas he never tunes into any radio stations.
The PBC head is asking for tax from mobile phone users whereas FM stations are available on mobile phone sets. I have not come across a mobile phone set that tunes into “Radio Pakistan”. Is PBC justified in asking for tax?
Tomorrow, if the local government runs short of funds for making roads, will it ask the people walking on the roads to pay a ‘walking tax’ to be followed by a ‘breathing tax’ etc?
M RAFIQUE ZAKARIA
Karachi
