‘PTA competition rules against CCP mandate’

ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Thursday informed the Senate Committee on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatisation that the newly drafted Pakistan Telecommunication Competition Rules 2017 were against the mandate of the commission as per law.

Briefing the committee on the newly drafted Pakistan Telecommunication Competition Rules 2017, CCP chairperson informed the committee that the rules were tantamount to taking the telecommunication sector out from the ambit of the CCP.

The meeting of the committee was chaired by Saleem Mandviwalla, and was attended by Senator Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari, Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Senator Saud Majeed, Senator Osman Saifullah Khan, Senator Mohsin Aziz, and Jehanzeb Jamaldini.

The committee was informed that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had the mandate to regulate technical and economic matters of the telecom sector, but not the competition in the sector.

On the request of the CCP, the committee decided to write to the attorney general for speeding up the resolution of court cases for promoting competitive market practices.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) informed the senate body that out of the 40 percent shares of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), 30 percent were sold to a foreign company, while the remaining 10 percent were divested to a local consortium.

The commission informed the committee that investigations were ongoing against some brokers over share manipulation accusations; while efforts were on to bring back the broker who had fled from the country.

The committee, while further reading some clauses of the Companies Bill 2017, deferred further discussion till the upcoming meeting. The bill has been passed by the National Assembly and referred to the committee for consideration and report.

Debating on the issue related to short-assessment of duty/tax on vehicles under the amnesty scheme initiated in 2013, the committee asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to withdraw notices issued after three years of assessment of vehicle taxes, as the law does not permit this action beyond a particular period.

Senator Jamaldini informed the committee that the authorities had started demanding more amounts in the shape of duty/taxes which were short assessed. He said the value of vehicles was even lower than the new tax assessment, varying from Rs250,000 to Rs300,000.

He informed the committee that as many as 2,800 people were affected by this short-assessment practice, and added that it was the fault of the FBR, so it should be held responsible. Chairman of the committee expressed dissatisfaction and disappointment over the performance of the FBR.

On the issue of repatriation of an FBR BS-19 officer, Muhammad Waseem Altaf, the committee chairman said if the issue was not sorted out, it would be referred to the house, assigning Senator Saud Majeed responsibility to conclude investigations in the matter as soon as possible.