Imran Khan asked us not to pay our utility bills. As we live in an environment where people say one thing when they mean something else, and then take pains to point out that they never said it in the first place, but it was pronounced by a third party, I will pretend I never heard that trenchant command. Anyway, as a large proportion of the citizenry of Karachi does not have any electricity, phone and gas connections, or generators, the injunction wouldn’t make much difference. But for a bloke like myself who has deadlines to meet, and whose UPS and generator are in the last throes of planned obsolescence, it is difficult to function without an internet connection.
Tahirul Qadri, whose eyes glitter with insight, who has such a throaty intensity that it melts one’s heart, and who has eschewed the narcissistic temptations of violence that will probably lose him the moral high ground later on, .has given the utilities a wide berth. He just wants to topple the whole apple cart, utilities and all. But of late, I have become highly critical of two of the four utilities that people abroad simply take for granted. Of course I have a cell phone, everybody and his uncle has one, but as my broadband connection draws its nourishment from my telephone I have become highly dependent on the linesman who services the area in which I live.
The ritual usually followed a regular pattern. Around the end of the month my telephone connection would be as dead as a doornail. I would contact 1218 from my cell phone, press two, listen to two minutes of a carefully rehearsed sales spiel which gives me the impression that if I wanted to speak to Vladimir Putin all I had to do was ask. I would get a complaint number and informed that my grievance had been communicated to the proper department on a priority basis. A couple of days later when rigor mortis was about to set in I would visit the utility’s office on Khayaban-e-Muhafiz where I would be courteously received and given a fresh complaint number.
A day later I would call the linesman. The connection would be restored in six minutes flat and the technician would then drop in and tell me how much the cost of living had increase and that his wife was undergoing an operation. As this is the end of the month I made the usual pilgrimage to the complaint center. Naturally, nothing has been done so far. I can’t initiate phase two of the restoration process as the regular linesman has been transferred on the complaint of a number of subscribers who said they have been equally affected by the rise in the cost of living! So it’s temporarily back to the EVO. It’s rather like Sisyphus rolling a rock up the hill to watch it roll down again.
The company, like other major utility providers, might be a mega corporation and a leading telecommunication authority in Pakistan, as it states in its mission statement. It might be the backbone of the country’s telecommunication infrastructure in spite of the existence of a dozen other telecommunication corporations, and might manage and operate around 2,000 telephone exchanges across the country and provide the largest fixed line network. But in the repair and restoration department it is woefully slow, lethargic and inefficient. A number of people have disconnected their line connection due to official indifference and lack of interest. An overhauling is indicated. Privatisation is supposed to improve a system, not make it worse.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2014.
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Here in India till 1994 there was monopoly of Department of Telecom a Govt department and the behavior of Linemens and Technicians was the same as you explained but after privatization many players entered in the fray and the people immediately changed their service providers as the behavior of the officials of the Govt company which was formed after privatization failed to change, I have retired from the Telecom PSU and has first hand experience but the private companies offer very efficient service.
People will always be able to take such a course of action only when they unite and create Peoples' Union. Peoples' Union arising from the union of people in each and every locality in the length and breadth of the country. What more, when people have their own union, if they ever do, no one will dare to do anything to offend the people. So to create or not create Peoples' Union is entirely in the hands of the people. The very people who need such a union most yet care to create it, the least.
Imran Khan calling for civil disobedience has advised the people not to, amongst other things, pay electricity bills. Mujahid Birailwi the senior Anchor and Wasim Sajjad the senior law expert immediately commented that ordinary people’s electricity connections are disconnected in case of delay in payment of a single month Bill.
I never have even any remotest direct or indirect association or sympathy with any political party. I am firmly believe no Nawaz, no Bhutto, no Imran etc can or will ever deliver in practical term. Yet I can follow Imran’s advice but only when!
After the sudden death of Benazir, it was heavily expected that Amin Fahim was going to be the next PM. It was then in the air to the extent that the un-faced king makers had almost agreed to it but ironically from no where surfaced the famous “Will”. The Dean of Politics Asif Zardari kept all the uncles of the party at far distance. Amin Fahim became frustrated and he started criticizing his own party’s government. One fine morning all the newspapers of Pakistan carried a statement from him on the background of increasing load shedding calling masses not to pay their electricity bills. Being badly affected of load shedding, I decided to say “Laabbaik” on his advice. However as a cautious person, knowing well our leaders, I wisely opted to hold action on his advice till Amin Fahim acting on his own advice himself does not pay his own bills and thus his bungalow gets in darkness in next two months. It is now about 5 plus years his bungalow still is fully alight hence so far I have not acted on his advice.
I assure Imran I will act on his advice but only when due to his own non payment continuously two months his Bani Gala bungalow plunged into darkness. My promise Imran Khan.
They are part of a cartel that controls international bandwidth in this country. They sell both wholesale bandwidth to their competitors and retail bandwidth directly to end users. As a result they have a strong motivation to keep wholesale prices high for their competitors. That is why no one can compete against them and they can keep providing poor service without consequences.
Privatization is not at fault here. Instead it is the toothless regulators CCP and PTA that are at fault.
The author should explore alternative ISPs in his area. This is pretty much his only option.
You need to have a long discussion with Nawaz and his brother Shahbaz. They privatized this. They are thinking of privatizing the air you breath,...too.