MONITORING REPORT: Rising to the situation, the Standing Committee of Senate on IT has halted the ministry from awarding any contract to those telecom companies which are still unable to pay off their outstanding government dues.
IT Secretary Farooq Awan informed the committee at a recently held meeting of the standing committee that the award of contract to telecom operators was the responsibility of PTA.
He informed the committee that giving a contract to a government default firm was the responsibility of the PTA not the USF. The committee expressed serious reservations over the role of PTA in regulating the telecom sector.
“The role of PTA Chairman is inefficient as he normally avoids attending the committee meeting with a plea that he is going to attend a court case,” Senator Zahid Khan informed the meeting.
On the occasion, USF Chairman Riaz Ashraf Siddique told the committee that his organisation has never violated the PPRA rules. Allowing or banning any telecom company in bidding process for any project is the responsibility of PTA.
He also informed the committee that NAB sent a letter to the USF with a view that it was an autonomous body and no one could stop its funds and it could also take independent decisions.