ISLAMABAD  -   The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology & Telecommunications on Tuesday discussed “The Establishment of Telecommunications Appellate Tribunal Bill, 2024” which will pave the way for the establishment of a tribunal to expedite the pending cases of telecom sector presently pending in the high court.

The 2nd meeting of the standing committee was held under the chairmanship of Syed Amin-ul-Haq, MNA at the Parliament House. It discussed “The Establishment of Telecommunications Appellate Tribunal Bill, 2024” (Government Bill) in detail. The bill states that a tribunal is to be established to expedite the pending cases of Telecom sector. These cases were currently pending in the high court, causing delays in their resolution. After the establishment of the tribunal, all such cases would be transferred to it, and the tribunal would be bound to make a decision within 90 days. 

The committee was informed that currently, there are 71 cases pending before the High Court and it would be transferred to the tribunal after the passage of the bill. Furthermore, the forum of appeal of such cases of telecom sector would be the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The committee also inquired about the procedure for appointing the tribunal’s chairperson and it’s appointing authority. The committee recommended that Ministry may consult with Ministry of Law & Justice and come up with proposal/amendments if any, in the next meeting. Thereafter, the committee defer “The Establishment of Telecommunications Appellate Tribunal Bill, 2024” (Government Bill) till its next meeting.

The committee was further informed that Spectrum Auction of 5G is under consideration and it’s likely to be auctioned in March, 2025. The committee recommended that ministry may bind the service providers to ensure the proper 5G services after its auctioning in major cities without compromising on quality. The committee recommended that ministry may incentivize the service providers in 5G Spectrum Auction and ensure that these incentive amounts should properly spend on the betterment of infrastructures by them for uninterrupted services of 5G in the Country. 

While briefing the committee, the Director, Universal Service Fund (USF) said that 1.5% of the revenue of all service providers goes into the Universal Service Fund. The USF uses these funds to provide services in underserved and un-served areas, ensuring the availability of data and voice services. The USF also informed the committee that Rs61 billion from their fund were taken by the federal government in Federal Consolidated Fund in 2015, out of which Rs45 billion are still outstanding despite their demand of return. The committee recommended the ministry to write the request repeatedly after every three months to the federal government for return of their funds. Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, Ahmad Atteeq Anwar, Ammar Ahmad Khan Leghari, Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, Sadiq Ali Memon, Syed Mustafa Kamal, Pullain, Gohar Ali Khan, M Umair Khan Niazi and the officials of the ministry attended the meeting.