NA body slams PTCL for inability to meet obligations

Thursday, January 07, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on IT and Telecom on Wednesday criticised PTCL’s administration over its inability to fulfil obligations made to the government.

The committee met under the chairmanship of MNA Muhammad Barjees Tahir, at the parliament house to probe into the privatisation of PTCL. After hearing the officials of both the ministries, the committee declared that despite having outstanding financial portfolio, PTCL was privatised to an entity which did not fulfil contractual obligations despite the grant of concessions by the government.

The body expressed its reservations over the entire privatisation process and said, “it seems as if the previous government wanted to get rid of PTCL which was a profit earning entity at the time of its privatisation.”

The committee also expressed reservations over the exclusion of Telephone Industries of Pakistan from the privatisation process, which was a subsidiary of PTCL.

Former secretaries of Privatisation and IT Telecom argued that the privatisation process was carried out in a transparent manner. They said that with deregulation of the telecom sector and huge number of employees, it was obvious that the entity would suffer losses and the government would have to provide subsidies for its sustenance.

Therefore, they added, the price which PTCL fetched from its sale was the best. The secretary of privatisation informed the committee that Etisilat, the buyer of PTCL, had stopped paying instalments till the transfer of PTCL properties in the name of the company.

He further informed that the provincial government and other departments had been asked to expedite the process of transfer of land to PTCL so that the payment from Etisilat could be actualised.