The Federal Cabinet had approved the creation of the aforementioned Telecom tribunals, but the Ministry of Law had advised that the Telecommunications Reorganization Act of 1996 needed to be amended in order to give effect to the Cabinet’s decision.
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) has been instructed to expedite the process and report the results back to the committee within thirty days after the National Assembly Standing on Cabinet Secretariat raised the issue of the delay in the establishment of Telecom Tribunals.
Kishwer Zehra served as the meeting’s chair. The Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat convened on Wednesday.
The Federal Cabinet had, in general, approved the creation of the aforementioned Telecom tribunals, but the Ministry of Law had advised that the Telecommunications Reorganization Act of 1996 needed to be amended in order to give effect to the Cabinet’s decision.
The draft of the amendment bill had been prepared, the IT ministry representative said, and it would be sent to the Law Ministry for review before being presented to the Federal Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Legislative Cases (CCLC) for final approval. After receiving these approvals, it would then be sent to Parliament for final approval.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) performance and regulatory functions were discussed by the committee, which recommended strengthening the Authority’s authority to enable the regulator to better control the power sector.
The committee was informed that the NEPRA’s authority was restricted because it had no say in who managed the entities responsible for power generation and distribution.
The NEPRA chairman informed that, in addition to the generation using renewable energy, electricity generated by Thar coal and hydroelectric power generation would significantly help save foreign currency.
The committee suggested charging lifeline customers who use within that range of units a similar tariff on three-phase metres as admissible. The committee believed that the three-phase metre tariff was excessive regardless of consumption. The committee also requested that NEPRA take action against DISCOs for failing to follow the instructions and load shedding schedule.