Cabinet approves amendment to telecom law

Auditors have raised objections to the allowances being paid to members and the chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The government has made an amendment to the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act, enabling officials to get allowances.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the chairman and members of PTA were drawing pay under MP-I and MP-II scales, respectively, along with allowances admissible in the senior executive grades, as approved by the Finance Division through office memorandums dated January 17, 2007 and September 7, 2009.

However, an audit raised objections to the payment of senior executive grades' allowances to the chairman and members, recommending that they should draw only the allowances admissible under management pay (MP) scales. This divergence between the audit's view and the opinion of the Law and Justice Division created ambiguity about the salary and allowances.

To address this, the PTA, through a letter dated May 23, 2024, requested an amendment to Section 3(7) of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act, 1996 to authorise the prime minister to determine the pay package of the chairman and members of PTA.

PTA was established under Section 3 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act, 1996. The authority comprises four members, one of whom is appointed as chairman with approval of the federal government.

Section 3(7) of the Act pertains to the salary and privileges of the chairman and members of the authority, and provides that members of the authority shall be paid the salary and be entitled to the privileges of an officer in MP-II, and the chairman shall be paid and be entitled to the privileges of an officer in MP-I.

The Law and Justice Division, through an office memorandum dated August 3, 2021 regarding Section 3(7) of the Act, clarified that the words "salary" and "privileges" were not interconnected and should be read separately. Therefore, the members and chairman of the authority are entitled only to the privileges equivalent to officers in MP-II and MP-I scales, respectively. It was noted that at present the PTA chairman and members were drawing pay in MP-I and MP-II scales, respectively, along with allowances admissible in senior executive grades, as approved by the Finance Division.

In this context, it was observed that, unlike the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act, 1996, the governing laws of other regulatory authorities under the administrative purview of the Cabinet Division, such as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA), Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority (Naphda), National Seed Development and Regulatory Authority (NSDRA) and National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Authority, authorised the federal government or the prime minister to determine the remuneration of their chairmen and members.

In a recent meeting of the cabinet, it was highlighted that, to eliminate ambiguity in the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act regarding the remuneration of the chairman and members of PTA and to align the remuneration with other regulatory authorities, the Cabinet Division proposed that Section 3(7) of the Act be amended to authorise the federal government to determine the remuneration package for the chairman and members of PTA. Accordingly, a draft amendment to the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act was forwarded to the Ministry of Law for vetting. The cabinet was informed that the Ministry of Law had vetted the draft bill with the advice that the Cabinet Division should seek approval, in principle, from the federal government in terms of Rule 27 read with Rule 18 of the Rules of Business, 1973.

The proposed amendment in Section 3(7) is that the chairman and members of PTA shall be paid such remuneration for their respective terms of office as may be determined by the federal government. Accordingly, the approval of the cabinet was sought for the amendment to Section 3(7) of the Act. The cabinet considered a summary titled "Amendment in Section 3(7) of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act, 1996," and approved the proposal.