IT Ministry Dissolves Steering Committee Formed Over Pending Dues of LDI Companies

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has dissolved the Steering Committee formed to resolve the issue of alleged financial relaxation granted to the long distance and international (LDI) companies. The steering committee was reconstituted to address the issue of arrears involving LDI companies after the ministry decided to withdraw a previous letter that granted exemptions amounting to billions of rupees to these companies. The committee had representatives from all nine LDI companies, alongside existing members from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the IT ministry. The ministry will now decide on the matter itself. Sources told ProPakistani that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has also submitted its reply on the matter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). In its response, the telecom regulator said that it was unable to collect due from LDI companies because of a lack of a policy directive by the federal government. PTA said that it had issued notices to the LDI companies for clearing pending dues and also gave multiple options to pay the dues. Moreover, PTA said that litigation undertaken by LDI companies also prevented it from collecting the pending dues. PTA further said that a letter issued by the IT ministry caused confusion and afterwards the letter was withdrawn by the ministry.