LAHORE - As 27 days are left for the closure of financial year 2008-09, the Excise and Taxation Department is set to miss 48 per cent recovery targets in property tax, motor registration tax, professional tax, token tax and excise duty. Despite cognisance of hard fact that department has fallen short of meeting the revenue target of Rs15.1 billion for current fiscal year. It has not bothered to launch any drastic drive against the defaulters to recover the outstanding dues. The attitude of officials of E & T department substantiates that they are satisfied to get half of the recovery target. Sources said some months back authority concerned decided in principle to transfer more than 25 excise and taxation officers (ETOs) and assistant excise district officers (AEDOs) to another districts due to their inefficiency to get the maximum recovery. The sources disclosed that all the inspectors were issued a number of warnings to perform up to mark in the current year. However, the decision to transfer them could not be materialised due to which department is facing failure in meeting set target, sources added. Sources revealed that Minister for Excise and Taxation Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman also announced to hold a high-level meeting to review the desperate situation but he was yet to wake up from his deep slumber. During the last meeting he ordered that those failing to meet the revenue target would be penalised while successors would be given cash awards. However, progress in execution of order was not in sight till the file of the story, sources added. Sources disclosed that department had set Rs15.1 billion in revenue generation from property tax, motor registration tax, token tax, professional tax and excise duty in current fiscal year. However, when financial year was about to be wrapped up by June 31, approximately Rs 8 billion could be recovered so far and rest of Rs 7 billion is yet to be recovered. Sources said ground realities revealed that recovery of remaining Rs 7 billion could never be possible at the end of fiscal year. E&T department official seeking anonymity revealed that due to worst economic and political situation in the country, department had faced drastic decline in the registration of new vehicles troubling motor registration branch to meet the revenue target. He said motor registration branch suffered 46 per cent fall in the registration of new vehicle across the Punjab. Recovery of motor registration branch was fixed at Rs 6.5 billion but only Rs 3.7 billion could be recovered so far, he added. He said government had set Rs 6b as recovery target in property tax. But property tax branch could recover only Rs 2b. While Rs 4 billion is yet to be recovered, he said. Under the head of Excise duty, recovery target was set at Rs 1.2 billion but only Rs 600 million could be recovered so far, he maintained. It may be recalled that due to lethargic and incompetent management, the Excise and Taxation Department Punjab had missed Rs 4 billion revenue target set for 2007-08 forcing Punjab government to cut the target to save the department from an insult.