The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is expected to submit its response to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday, July 29, after failing to collect overdue payments from telecom companies.
On July 22, NAB Karachi summoned PTA officials to provide records related to the non-recovery of arrears from Wireless Local Loop (WLL) and Long Distance International (LDI) companies, which have led to financial losses for the national exchequer.
PTA officials did not attend the meeting on July 22, requesting more time to prepare their response.
NAB has now directed the PTA to submit their response by July 29. PTA officials will present the required records and appear before NAB Karachi to address questions from the investigation team.
NAB has launched an inquiry into PTA’s failure to recover billions of rupees in dues from telecom companies, following complaints about Rs. 78 billion in unpaid arrears from ten WLL and LDI companies. The investigation aims to gather details on outstanding amounts, payment records, correspondence with telecom firms, and internal inquiries related to the case.
Sources within PTA told ProPakistani that the delay in recovering dues was due to the companies obtaining court stay orders. With the expiration of these companies’ licenses, all LDI companies have agreed to pay the outstanding principal amount. The Ministry of IT has set up a steering committee to address the issue.
In a recent meeting chaired by State Minister for IT and Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawja, it was stressed that no leniency would be shown in recovering the dues. The minister declared that the steering committee’s decisions on dues recovery would be final and rigorously enforced.
