With Rs2.72b loss, PTV earning more from utility bills than ads

It earns far more from fee it collects through utility bills than advertising

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Television is incurring a loss of Rs2.72 billion and earns far more from charging public in utility bills than from advertisements it runs cumulatively on its eight channels.

It is learnt that the PTV management recently told staff that salaries could be delayed because of the deficit.

Statistics suggested a gloomy picture of Pakistan Television Corporation Limited ever since the PML-N government came into power.

The state-run institution’s financial position was far better in 2012-11 when it earned a profit of Rs219 million.



The corporation’s earning in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 fiscals stood at Rs147 million and Rs137 million, respectively.

After the incumbent government took over, the PTV witnessed a loss of Rs733 million in the fiscal year of 2013-14. The previous 2014-15 fiscal was no better, with the organisation suffering losses of Rs396 million.

For the year 2015-16, PTV sustained a loss of Rs1.6 billion, cumulatively the losses over the past four years amounted to Rs3 billion.

Data presented in the annual general meeting of PTV’s Board of Directors in 2016 suggested that losses touched a level where PTV’s income from advertising was less, Rs3.4 billion while the income from the TV fees (Rs35 on every utility bill) is higher, Rs5.5 billion.



PTV’s income from other resources was Rs711 million hence the total income was Rs9.7 billion, of which expenditure was Rs11 billion, resulting in a pre-tax loss of Rs1.6 billion.

Except for one, all PTV channels are incurring losses. PTV Home is the only channel which is earning a profit of Rs1.1 billion.

Recently the information minister told the Senate that PTV owed Rs59 million to artists and writers in Karachi, Quetta, Islamabad, Peshawar and Lahore centres. These payments are overdue since 2013-2017. The highest number of arrears is owed by PTV Home which has yet to pay performing artists Rs48.9 million.

On April 27, PTV’s director finance sent a circular to all directors, controllers and other senior management, stating: “As PTV is facing financial problems due to which payments of accumulated arrears, pay and allowances, medical reimbursements etc have become difficult (to be paid), despite more revenue was collected in 2017, there is still a deficit of Rs38.71 million.”

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It also stated that employees in groups 1-8 would be paid salary for April on time while officers in group nine and above would be paid salaries “once enough funds are available with PTV”.

PTV employs more than 5,000 people across the country.

Senator Kamil Ali Agha, who is also chairperson of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Information, said that if people were not appointed on merit, institutions were bound to collapse.

“We are taking up the budget of PTVCL in next meeting, but there are dozens of staffers who are drawing huge salaries and their job is ‘doing nothing’,” he said.



The organisational structure of PTVCL is also incomplete and major positions are vacant.

PTV’s previous managing director left office on February 28 last year and since then the position is vacant. Various officials of the Information ministry have been holding the acting charge.

The Ministry of Information has yet to fill the post of a permanent deputy managing director, which is vacant for the past four years, while the director finance retired three months ago and the director administration two months ago.

State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb told The Express Tribune that she was working on several plans.

“I am working on a business plan which I am surprised nobody thought before … We will make PTV a profitable entity soon,” she said.