Dollar fees paid to PTCL board questioned

Senate panel also grills FIA over Rs15m/month corruption case, NADRA data security lapses and Pak-Datacom dispute

ISLAMABAD:

Ministers and senior bureaucrats came under scrutiny in a Senate panel on Monday over receiving hefty fees from Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) for serving as board members.

According to a report submitted to the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology, Federal Minister Ahad Cheema, the IT secretary and other senior bureaucrats were sitting on the PTCL board and receiving substantial fees in dollars.

The Senate body expressed concern over the high perks being taken by government employees while serving on the boards of state-owned enterprises, including PTCL. The committee sought details of perks and privileges given to PTCL board members and was informed that Zarar Hashim Khan, PTCL Chairman and Secretary for ITT, received $8,000 per board meeting. In addition, he was paid a monthly honorarium of Rs25,000 and was entitled to a 1,300cc car with a driver provided by PTCL.

A written response submitted by PTCL Company Secretary Zahida Awan stated that directors of the PTCL board receive a fee equivalent to $5,000 per meeting attended and $1,000 for each member serving on the board's committees.

Committee Chairperson Senator Palwasha Khan directed the Law Division to brief the committee on the official policy governing such payments and the limits applicable to government employees or dignitaries. Members of the committee also sought details of board members serving on Ufone, a subsidiary of PTCL.

Under another agenda item, the committee was briefed on alleged corruption of Rs15 million per month. A senior Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Anti-Money Laundering official said an FIR had been registered and investigations were underway. He said 13 officers in grades 16 to 19 had been convicted; three are on protective bail and two on post-arrest bail, while only Rs1.5 million has been recovered. The committee sought a timeline and expressed concern over delays; 271 FIA officers disciplined.

NADRA officials briefed the committee on data security measures. The chairperson expressed dissatisfaction over NADRA's handling of data breaches involving dignitaries. The additional secretary interior informed the committee that over 80 percent of NADRA's data had been secured through modern protocols and that aliens had been removed from the database.

Senator Afnanullah Khan recommended a third-party forensic audit of NADRA, and the committee decided to summon the NADRA chairman in the next meeting.

The also committee heard (retd) Brig Zulfiqar Ali, Pak-Datacom CEO, a subsidiary of the MoITT, who complained of humiliation and injustice by the company's board. He said he was illegally sent on forced leave and had lodged a complaint with the IT ministry against Pak-Datacom Board Chairman Zuma Mohiuddin. Senator Afnanullah said the ministry must clearly respond to the allegations, as officials sought time to prepare a brief.