TAXILA, Aug 20: The billing department at the Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) in Hassanabdal is eying the future. It is sending bills to prospective consumers who might get a telephone connection in the near future.

There may be others but Tariq Mahmood, a resident of Muhallah Chaudhrian is one such client who is being billed monthly since April last for a telephone connection that is yet to be given to him.

Pay up, he is being told, whether you have a connection or not, which is a secondary matter. The matter of immediate concern for PTCL is prompt payment. Non-payment may result in refusal of connection on a permanent basis. Clients should understand that issuance of a bill amounts to having a connection that is in use.

Mr Tariq told Dawn that he applied for a domestic telephone connection in April. Since then he has been put on the consumers list and been receiving bills every month for a telephone number 521208, which according to PTCL Hassanabdal is working at his residence (B-202, Muhalla Chaudhrian).

The current bill for July amounts to Rs1,148. When he contacted PTCL office he was told that he should deposit the bill forthwith failing which he would become a defaulter.

Now he is in a fix. If he pays for a non-existing facility he may be told he has it and therefore he does not need another. If he doesn’t pay he will be a defaulter. Either way he is going to be the loser.

There was no one available at PTCL office to offer any comment.—Correspondent