PM rejects levy on phone calls in budget 2021-21

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has turned down a proposal of imposing an education levy of Re 1 on every phone call in the upcoming budget 2021-22.

Task Force on Science Technology and Knowledge had proposed the Prime Minister impose an education levy on every call from landline and mobile phone to raise funds to promote literacy, education, and knowledge economy.

According to officials, the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders had discussed this proposal. However, they opposed it.

Therefore, Prime Minister Imran Khan had also turned down this proposal and directed not to make it part of 2021-22.

The government had formed a Task Force on Science and Technology to prepare proposals to promote the knowledge economy under Prime Minister Iman Khan’s Naya Pakistan vision.

However, this task force had prepared a proposal to burden the consumers with an education levy. The Taskforce believed that the imposition of an education levy would help raise funds to promote literacy and knowledge economy.

There has always been misuse of funds on account of collection through levies in the country. Past governments had imposed a petroleum levy (PL) on petroleum products to spend on developing the oil sector in the country. However, no government had used this fund to develop the oil sector.

The previous government of PML-N had also imposed a super tax on rich people in 2013. The aim was to raise funds in a bid to spend on efforts to counter the terrorism in the country,  

Officials said that the same case would happen in the education levy even if the government imposes it on phone calls. Governments have always preferred to utilize such funds to meet the current expenditure.

The government had constituted this Task Force to ensure the technology needs of the country’s various sectors to find out solutions. The government had pledged multibillion rupees for 35 different technology projects.