I am not sure where Dharejo ji got his information from.

There is hardly a housing colony for customs officers. So his information about houses and servants is absolutely incorrect. Yes they do get cars which are mostly non-custom paid (NCP) vehicles which they use but no other extra-ordinary infrastructure or facilities are available. During raids, they get staff like superintendent etc. but so do IRS Officers who have support of uniformed inspectors and powers to arrest and confiscate. There are colonies for senior level IRS Officers in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Also, for the junior level officers, houses are easily available in Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sukur, Quetta, Hyderabad and Abbottabad and Transit Accommodations are being built at Islamabad, Quetta and Hyderabad in first phase of an IMF funded project. In smaller stations like Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Multan, Quetta, Sukkur, Abbottabad and Bahawalpur, even BS-17 officers of 36th common have been given vehicles.

The reality is that Pakistan Customs Service is now on the decline. Many of its brightest officers have opted for IRS. Also, whereas 32nd common of former income tax group (now IRS) was promoted to BS-18, 6 months back, their customs colleagues are still languishing in BS-17. This has severely affected the promotion prospects of Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) Officers in the near future. Whereas, there are only 147 approved seats of BS-18 in PCS, the current number of officers serving in PCS in BS-18 are 178. This means that those officers who are freshly recruited to BS-17 will have to wait 7 or 8 years for promotion to next grade. The approved cadre strength of IRS in BS-21 is 44 which is even more than DMG.

The anti-smuggling powers delegated previously by Pakistan Customs (PCS) to Pakistan Rangers and FC and withdrawn in view of expansion of PCS in border regions have also been returned to Pakistan Rangers and FC which signifies that there is no scope of further expansion in customs seats in the near future.

In the long term, Pakistan Customs Service will no longer remain a revenue collection agency because revenue from customs and regulatory duties is already being phased out under the WTO regime. Instead, it will have a more focussed and narrow role of border-protection and anti-smuggling. As compared to PCS, the newly created IRS will have better opportunities and unparalleled powers. This is particularly the case because Reformed GST is about to be approved which will mean even greater powers for IRS.