ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Tuesday warned officials of the Ministry of Information Technology that a privilege motion could be moved against them after they refused to disclose the names of board members of state-owned telecom entities.

The warning was issued by Senator Palwasha Khan, chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on IT and Telecom, after the special IT secretary declined to share the names of board members of PTCL and Ufone.

Committee members expressed annoyance as ministry officials continued to avoid the question for over half an hour despite repeated demands to disclose the names, perks, and criteria of selection of the board members.

The committee noted that the information had originally been sought on August 25. Officials maintained they still needed more time to collect the details. After strong warnings, the committee directed the IT ministry to provide the required information in the next meeting.

Senators also raised the issue of PTCL’s refusal to have its accounts audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP). The special secretary said PTCL was under private-sector management, but added that the ministry had no objection to an AGP audit.

5G spectrum auction

On another agenda item, the committee was informed that the prime minister has set December as the deadline for the 5G spectrum auction.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) officials told the meeting that the consultant hired to finalise the auction policy had raised two major concerns. The first related to 140MHz spectrum in the 2,600MHz band, which remains stuck in litigation involving Southern Network Ltd (SNL).

Although there is no stay order, SNL has not released the spectrum. Committee members expressed concern that both the PTA and the IT ministry had previously failed to present the factual position. It was also noted that Zong is currently using over 6.6MHz spectrum and the matter is pending in court.

The second concern was the planned merger of Telenor Pakistan with PTCL. Senator Anusha Rehman said the ministry should engage with Telenor to reconsider its decision to exit Pakistan.

The committee also received a detailed briefing from the Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) on preparations for spectrum auctions. In addition, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) briefed members on different forms of cyber fraud, warning that scams amounting to billions of rupees posed a serious threat to digital trust and financial inclusion.

The meeting also witnessed a heated exchange between PTA representatives and officials from the AGP over audit observations against Jazz. The AGP alleged that Jazz overcharged customers by Rs6.58 billion through quarterly tariff hikes of up to 15 per cent.

The committee directed both the PTA and the AGP to submit complete records and decided to continue reviewing the matter in the next session.

Senators Pervaiz Rashid, Dr Mohammad Humayun Mohmand, Dr Afnan Ullah, Saifullah Nyazee and Nadeem Ahmed Bhutto attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2025