December 7, 2001	Friday	Ramazan 21, 1422

KARACHI, Dec 6: Contrary to what most people believe, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is powerless to turn down the application for a tariff increase submitted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL), Dawn learnt here on Thursday.

The PTCL has filed a petition with the PTA for an increase in local call charges and line rent. The PTCL wants to raise the local call charges by six to 10 per cent and the line rent by eight to 12 per cent.

Well-placed sources in the PTA told Dawn that if the PTCL petition for the tariff increase was in accordance with the tariff formula laid down by the government, the PTA was powerless to reject the PTCL application. They added that the tariff formula, governed by what was referred to as the Telecommunication Rules 2000, had come into force on Nov 2, 2000, and had been made public through the statuary regulatory order number 847.

They observed that following the promulgation of the tariff formula, the role of the PTA had been changed from that of a regulatory authority to a body that merely cross-checked if the tariff increase sought by the PTCL was in accordance with the Telecommunication Rules 2000.

Originally, he pointed out, the PTA had set out as a regulatory authority like the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority which was authorized to accept as well as reject the application for a tariff rise submitted by the Water and Power Development Authority and the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation.

The Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Act 1996 says: “The level of tariffs for telecommunication service, including basic telephone services, shall be regulated by the Authority in accordance with the regulations and the following general principles, namely:

“(a) the regulations shall be made with a view to achieving the greatest possible degree of pricing flexibility and stability compatible with safeguarding and protecting the interests of consumers;

“(b) the regulations shall apply equally to comparable providers or users of any regulated telecommunication service;

“(c) the criteria used for the establishment of tariff shall regularly be published three months before the criteria is adopted;

“(d) tariffs shall be a level which provides a reasonable rate of return on investments taking into account the cost of operation, etc;

“(e) there shall be no cross-subsidization of other telecommunication services by basis telephony service.”

Insiders told Dawn that the PTA had expressed its reservations about the Telecommunication Rules 2000, which effectively robbed it of its powers, to the government. “We have represented to the government that the tariff rules prevent us from protecting the rights of the consumers effectively. We have also asked for modifications in the rules,” they added.

When contacted, PTCL officials pointed out that the tariff formula promulgated by the government was also in force in severa