RAWALPINDI: The Excise and Taxation Office has put up advertisements on metro pillars in violation of the ban on all advertisements, political or private, on the metro bus service and has also not paid any fee for the banners.

The Excise and Taxation Office has advertised the Punjab government`s Dealer Vehicles Registration Scheme on the concrete pillars of the metro bus service on Murree Road, free of cost, and the concerned authorities have yet to remove them.

Passing Marrir Chowk to Liaquat Bagh, one can see the banners in the middle of the road.

The hanging of pasting of posters and banners of the elevated metro bus road has also been banned by the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA). Under the Parks and Horticulture Authority Act 2012, the authority will charge a fee from private and public bodies for advertisements on billboards, sky signs and outdoor advertisements at a rate approved by the government.

PHA Director General Dr Abid Malik said the authority has not charged any fee from the Excise and Taxation Office for the provincial government`s campaign. He said the promotion of government schemes on the metro pillars was not banned.

However, a senior PHA officer said the Excise and Taxation Office did not get permission for the advertisements and that under the law, gov-ernment departments should inform the PHA before launching a campaign and take formal permission.

`After an application is filed, the PHA gives permission and specifies the number of banners and posters that can be installed in any part of the commercial area or the side of roads,` he said.

Talking to Dawn, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MPA Arif Abbasi said that in Punjab, the PML-N government has different standards for the general public and the government. He said that under the law, the government can only put up advertisements after paying a fee.

`Every department allocates funds for advertisements and if the Excise and Taxation department does not pay taxes, how can it collect taxes from the people,` he asked.

`It is interesting that the department will not pay its own taxes but will seal small houses if taxes on it are not paid for just a year,` he said.

PPP City Spokesperson Nasir Mir said allowing the Excise and Taxation department to advertise Shahbaz Sharif`s performance on the metro pillars when other political parties were not allowed to do the same was a violation of the law.

He said banners of PML-N leaders were allowed everywhere in the city and that the ban only applied to other political parties.

`If the provincial government wants to put up advertisements, it should pay the fee according to the rules,` he said.