PTA warns telecom companies to not increase tariff without proper mechanism

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will take severe action if any telecom company raises the tariff without following the laid down procedure by the authorities, said the PTA chairman Major Gen. (Retd) Amir Azeem Bajwa.

The committee on Monday observed a piece of news that the telecom companies have raised tariffs after the restoration of taxes by the Supreme Court, and that screenshots of the PTA website showcasing the increased tariffs were also being shown on the social media. During a briefing session with the committee which was headed by Rubina Khalid, the PTA chairman said that the tariffs are being increased following a proper procedure and discussions. He also said that recently no tariffs have been increased.

Major Bajwa explained that many consumers are feeling that the companies have increased the SMS and voice call tariffs but it is not true. He said that users get air time of Rs 60 on a card of Rs 100 and PTA is monitoring the tariffs closely and will issue show-cause notices, if any of the telecom company tried to increase tariffs against the proper mechanism.

Rubina Khalid said that there were tons of rumors circulating and it was necessary to eliminate them properly. The committee during the meeting also reviewed the import duty on mobile phone devices, and it was informed to them that the matter is related to the Federal Board of Revenue. The committee also asked for a written response from the authorities regarding the issue of smuggling of thousands of mobile devices with the same IMEI numbers.

The committee was told that the Cyber Crime Wing of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has 114 persons in total and out of those 15 persons are investigators, and they were tasked to resolve 28,000 cases related to smuggling of mobile phones, which is an impossible task.

The committee told the FIA that the Senate has forwarded its recommendations for the Cyber Crime Cell, and the authorities were asked to present a report on the implementation of those recommendations in the next meeting.

Feature Image Source: Dawn