Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has served as a money minting machine for four travel agents from Islamabad during the last few years amid reports that these ill reputed agents robbed million of rupees from the Foreign Office under the guise of tickets. The four travel agents including United Travel, Smart Aviation, Butt Aviation and Travel Time overcharged ticket prices in exorbitant proportion from the Foreign Office by claiming the cost of a ticket was more than 100 percent the actual cost. Certain elements of the Foreign Office also forged nexus with them to harvest illegal commission.

Several officials of the Foreign Office are appointed in Pakistani embassies in other countries. The senior officials and diplomats undertake foreign tours and these people have fallen victim to these four travelling agents because they have been overcharging them the prices by more than 100 percent of the actual price in connivance with certain officials of the Foreign Office. In this race of extortion of money, these agents piled up money running into millions of rupees.

A ticket from Islamabad to New York costs between Rs 150,000 and 180,000, while these agents kept on charging prices to the tune of over Rs 400,000, in effect going on a plundering spree pocketing million of rupees. Likewise, these four travel agents provided tickets to the Foreign Office personnel appointed in Pakistani embassies in the countries of Europe, Gulf and Central Asia. They not only overcharged the officials but also greased the palms of staff of the foreign office.

A few days ago, a ticket from Islamabad to Kabul was issued by these agents and a sum of Rs 74,000 was received as cost of this ticket, while PIA’s maximum fare from Islamabad to Kabul is less than Rs 35,000.

We contacted Director General (DG) Headquarters and talked to him about this matter posing as travel agent. He was completely ignorant of this matter and took immediate notice of this issue. He called the director passage immediately in his room and demanded an explanation. He was told that this state of affairs had been prevailing in this office for the last few years. Earlier, a bidding procedure was pursued for obtained tickets. The ticket was made by the lowest bidder. But this practice had been suspended for some years and the tickets were being issued by some travel agents including Travel Times, United Travel, Butt Aviation and Smart Aviation.

DG Headquarters took strong notice of this practice and ordered that the bidding system be resorted to immediately and tickets be obtained through bidding system. Ever-since the bidding system has been restarted, these four travel agents are in trouble and are making efforts to regain control over the ticketing system. This scam can be detected easily if foreign secretary or senior officials of foreign office hold an inquiry into the matter.