A customs appellate tribunal has upheld the recovery of a 10% regulatory duty, amounting to billions of rupees, from six oil companies on the import of petrol in 2022.
According to a media report, the tribunal’s two-member panel upheld the departmental appeals against an order from the collector customs (appeals) that had previously ruled in favour of the oil importers, including Hascol Petroleum Ltd, Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd, Taj Gasoline Ltd, My Petroleum (Pvt) Ltd, Puma Energy Pakistan Ltd, and Euro Oil (Pvt) Ltd.
The oil companies had sought exemption from the regulatory duty under SRO 806(1)/2022, issued on June 20, 2022. This exemption was denied because the federal government had imposed a 10% duty on petrol imports through the same SRO. The duty exemption was only applicable to cargoes for which letters of credit (LCs) had already been opened or were on the high seas.
The time-specific scheme was valid until June 30, 2022, and ceased to exist from July 1, when SRO 966(1)/2022 came into effect. Despite this, the oil importers filed petitions with the Sindh High Court seeking an extension of the exemption to include their imported petrol.
The Sindh High Court initially allowed the provisional release of the imported goods by securing the disputed amount through pay orders or bank guarantees. However, the high court ultimately dismissed the petitions in its final ruling.
