Pakistan: Rs 25m duty on screens and scoreboards

Karachi, Oct 2: The three giant replay screens and digital scoreboards each arrive here on Tuesday for installation at the National, Rawalpindi and Qadhafi stadiam.

However, informed sources said Central Board of Revenue (CBR) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are on a collision course after the former spurned a request from the latter to exempt duty on the items.

A duty of Rs 25 million is being imposed on the equipment the PCB is importing from Malaysia at a cost of $ 2 million.

The PCB maintains that the equipment was being installed for public convenience and to modernize the stadia at international level.

With the equipment scheduled to be operational during the home series against England, the PCB face a race against time as the CBR maintains that it would not release the supplies until the tax is paid.

"The PCB is without a sponsor. It is doing all this investment from its own kitty. Now they (CBR) are demanding a huge money to get it released. It will be very difficult for the board to generate Rs 25 million," a PCB official said.

A CBR official, requesting anonymity, said: "There are certain laws of the land that have to be followed. We can't release things if they are meant for public convenience."