ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: The Pakistan Television has incurred a loss of over $1 million after signing a contract with a United States company for rallying PTV transmissions in the US, and has decided to hire a law firm to take the matter into court for the recovery of the money.

According to sources, the information secretary brought the matter to the notice of the president and sent the PTV MD to the US for negotiating the recovery of $1 million.

Although the transmission was running smoothly, the company refused to pay anything, saying that it was not required to pay anything under the contract.

According to the PTV, non-payment and accumulation of outstanding dues was because of “misinterpretation” of the agreement by the company, which says that “it does not owe any money to the PTV.”

The PTV rejected the argument by saying that a sizable subscriber base in the US (25,000 to 30,000) was already there which needed to be reconciled.

To resolve the matter, the PTV MD visited the US and discussed the matter with the company. After the refusal of the company, it had been decided to approach the court.

The PTV, however, is still providing software, news and current affairs programmes to the contractor, who is transmitting PTV programmes to the United States.