By Hamza Habib

Copyright brecorder

ISLAMABAD: Free and discounted tickets caused revenue loss of Rs 9 billion to the Pakistan International Airlines during the 2011-16 period.

According to the consolidated audit report for the year 2024-25 released by the Auditor General of Pakistan, during the special audit of PIACL, the management issued 190,724 discounted tickets to passengers and employees, with discounts ranging from 25 percent to 95 percent, over six years from 2011 to 2016.

A significant portion of these tickets, 116,273, were given at a 95 percent discount to non-employee passengers on both828 domestic and international routes, resulting in only 5 percent of the fare being charged.

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This generous discounting led to a substantial revenue loss of Rs 3.5 billion. The audit report said the management failed to obtain approval from the Chairman or Managing Director for these fare concessions.

The detail is from 2008-2017, it was observed that the management allowed 258,990 passengers to travel free of cost over a period of six years, disregarding the corporation’s financial position, resulting in a loss of Rs 5.55 billion.

Audit is of the view that the practice of allowing free tickets to passengers other than employees reflects weaknesses in financial prudence, misuse of discretionary powers, inadequate internal controls, and lack of transparency and accountability, as the management disregarded the corporation’s financial well-being.

Further, allowing discounted tickets to the passengers without obtaining the necessary approvals from the Chairman or Managing Director raises concerns about the lack of transparency, accountability, and adherence to established policies and procedures.

The matter was reported to the management from July, 2018 to September 2018. This office requested the Principal Accounting Officer (PAO)/the Secretary, Aviation Division, Islamabad on 08.03.2019, followed by eight reminders, for holding a DAC meeting so that the Management’s para-wise viewpoint is incorporated. In response to this office’s requests, the PAO convened a DAC meeting on July 12-14, 2021, wherein only three chapters 4.1, 4.2 & 4.3, were discussed.

The request for convening of the DAC meeting on the remaining part of the report and provision of the draft minutes of the DAC meeting on the discussed paras was also made on 05.11.2021, followed by nine reminders from July2022 to February 2023, but the DAC meeting was not convened by the PAO, nor were the draft DAC minutes provided to the audit for vetting till finalization of this audit report.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025