Dhaka, March 13 -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has requested a waiver of value added tax (VAT) on three Emirati airlines retrospectively, saying that such levy is against globally accepted standards.

Following assurances of considering this remission by the PM herself to a UAE diplomat, the UAE embassy recently relayed the fliers' plea to the Foreign Ministry to this end, officials said.

Emirates, Flydubai and Etihad have urged the Bangladesh authorities to waive an estimated Tk600 crore VAT on aeronautical and non-aeronautical charges from 2008 to 2018.

The UAE embassy in Dhaka forwarded the letters, sent by Emirates, Etihad and the budget airline, Flydubai, to the ministry concerned recently.

Charging taxes like VAT with retrospe...