Biman decides to stop tax payment for staffers

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Ismail Hossain
State carrier Biman has decided that its employees will need to pay their own income tax from the current fiscal year.
The board of directors at Biman Bangladesh Airlines has taken the decision at its 89th meeting held early this month.
Earlier, the national flag carrier used to pay all taxes for its employees.
"We have heard about the decision but not yet received any official letter in this connection," said Capt Sheikh Naseer Uddin Ahmed, Executive Director (Planning) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Biman has recently taken a number of decisions to overcome its cash crisis caused by substantial losses.
According to Biman statistics, the airlines incurred a loss of Tk 1.99 billion in FY 2010-11.
It suffered around Tk 800 million loss in the previous year (FY 2009-10), for which the civil aviation ministry demanded an explanation from the Biman board.
On January 17, the Biman Bangladesh Airlines requested its staff to give up 10 per cent of their wages voluntarily for the next six months to offset the liquidity crisis it is now facing.
It also decided not to raise and maintain any sports team as the authority thinks its four sports teams are not viable anymore. Besides, the board has also decided not to issue free tickets to the players any longer.
Biman has a workforce of about 4,500, including 150 pilots and 360 cabin crew.
A number of Biman employees told the FE Sunday that they are not happy with the decisions. They think those are not right ways to overcome the situation.
A Biman source, seeking anonymity, said the increasing amount of loss was mainly due to fuel price hike, payment for two leased aircraft, payment of loan interest, cost of hiring of foreign pilots and expenditure for training and travel of engineers for the two new Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft.
Biman owes more than Tk 2.47 billion to its fuel supplier, Padma Oil, over Tk 2.70 billion to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh and Tk 560 million to the National Board of Revenue in travel taxes, its officials said.
According to Bangladesh Economic Review 2009-10, Biman made a profit of Tk 150 million in FY 2008-09.