Netizens Slam Govt Over Major Price Hike of Cigarettes

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) announced a massive increase in federal excise duty on cigarette sales on Tuesday. The FBR issued SRO 178(I)/2023 to notify the public of the new rates of federal excise duty (FED) on sales of cigarettes.

Following are the new FED regulations on cigarette sales with effect from February 14, 2023. The rate of duty shall be Rs 16,500 per thousand cigarettes on locally produced cigarettes if their on-pack printed retail price exceeds nine thousand rupees per thousand cigarettes.

The rate of duty shall be Rs 5,050 per thousand cigarettes on locally produced cigarettes if their on-pack printed retail price does not exceed nine thousand rupees per thousand cigarettes. Netizens slam the government over a significant increase in cigarette prices.