Reorganization Act approved for consistency in Telecom policies
By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD—The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology has approved the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996 to keep consistency in the policies and their proper implementation.
A committee meeting held here Wednesday decided that the existing powers of the Federal Government to issue policy directives and make rules under this Act have also been redefined clearly to remove any ambiguity.
A detailed study of the Act as proposed for amendment reveals that some amendments in the Act relating to PTCL and license conditions have also been introduced to facilitate the privatization process of PTCL. The need for amending the act was felt to provide legal cover to change in the telecom sector introduced through the Telecom Deregulation Policy and Mobile Cellular Policy.
The Cabinet has already approved the proposed amendments on October 13, for their onward presentation to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on IT.
The amendments seek to include representatives of Ministry of IT and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) in the composition of Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) and the power to appoint the Chairman of FAB will now vest in the Federal Government.
The new Act also provides more safeguards in telecommunication operations in the interest of national security.
According to the Act, as the telecommunications related issues are now assigned to the Ministry of IT as per clause 17 of Section 17-A of Schedule II of Rules of Business, accordingly, the words "Ministry of Communication" have been substituted with the words "Ministry of Information Technology (IT & Telecom Division)." The introduction of the Act also introduces enabling provisions, whereby the Federal Government can increase the number of Members of the Authority (PTA) and the Board (FAB) and can prescribe their qualification and mode of appointment.
In the Act, the change in the pay scales of the top management of the Authority has been introduced by replacing BPS scales with MP scales and deletion of a sub-section which grants revisional powers to the Government against any order of the PTA.
The appellate jurisdiction against any order of PTA in the court of law has been streamlined by giving powers to the High Court or any Tribunal made by the Government for this specific purpose. Legal cover is given to delegate certain powers of the Authority to the Chairman or to any of its officer not below therank of Director General to increase the efficiency of the Authority. Submission of Budget Statement to Federal Government by PTA for information only instead of approval.