In violation of the law, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) showed a grant of Rs8.5 billion as an increase in income, 24NewsHD TV channel Saturday reported citing an audit report.

The grant had been issued by the federal government for the payment of pending dues to the employees retiring voluntarily.

The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) also objected to using the grant of Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for other purposes.

“Using the grant for other purposes was disclosed in the audit for 2021-22. Declaring the grant as income without the approval of the Ministry of Finance is a violation of the relevant laws,” the audit report said.

“The record of correspondence between the PIA management and the finance ministry was also not provided. The management only provided the details of observing all the accounting rules and standards,” it added.

The PIA management was directed to clear its position through a certified audit.

Reporter: Samar Abbas