The government of Bangladesh has confiscated the bank account of Regent Airways to collect the dues of $130, 379 to cover the $3.1 million owed in unpaid domestic passenger travel taxes.
The finance minister of Bangladesh, AHM Mustafa Kamal confirmed during a question hour in the parliament. He said that the Regent Airways owes the government Tk32.46 crore in travel tax, and Tk1.37 crore has been recovered by confiscating the bank account.
The seized money is just 4.2% of the total amount of domestic travel taxes owed by the airline.
The government charges domestic airline passengers $0.48, collected by airlines when the ticket is purchased. These funds are used by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) for the development of aviation sector.
Regent Airways suspended its operations in the wake of COVID19 pandemic and never resumed services.
“Due to Regent Airways being shut down, the dues remain unpaid. Their bank accounts were seized to collect the unpaid dues,” the finance minister added.