PESHAWAR, June 8: The field staff of Pakistan Telecommunication Company are extorting money from its subscribers in the head of extra wire charges and shifting of telephone numbers from one site to another in the city areas.

Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, a new PTCL subscriber having a shop in Sher Plaza, while requesting unanimity, blamed that he had paid Rs1000 to the PTCL lineman for extra wire without receiving any receipt.

“The lineman told me that there is no line available in the nearest distribution point (DP), and he will provide the service from a distant DP,” he maintained. “The lineman demanded Rs2,000 for extra wire and told me that otherwise Rs2,500 will be added to your first PTCL bill,” he alleged.

Later on, he agreed to pay Rs1000 for extra wire. “But when the new telephone was installed I paid Rs500 as I had a shortage of money at that time,” he said.

“The lineman installed the telephone at my shop, but did not made it operational for three days till I paid the remaining amount,” he alleged. He said that later on he came to know that his telephone service DP was not more than 50ft from his shop.

The same story narrated by a free lance journalist living in Sara Tower of the cantonment locality. He said that he paid Rs1000 to the lineman for shifting his telephone from one locality to Sara Tower.

“The lineman demanded Rs2,000 for shifting of the telephone as he denied to have any line in the near DPs. But he agreed to transfer the phone after getting Rs1000.”

The subscriber allege that there is a linemen mafia, which exist almost in every locality of the city. While the PTCL senior staff members are very good and cooperative, but the field staff are corrupt and minting money through illegal sources.