WE are the victims of UAN (universal access number) offered by the PTCL. When this service began in 2001, the concept was that if the company had branches in other cities, through the nine digit numbers which are easy to remember one could call any city in Pakistan.

In the year 2008 we were charged on quarterly basis Rs1000 per location. As we had four branches in four major cities we paid Rs4000 and our quarterly billing was Rs 12,000 plus 16 percent GST. In March 2009, we received a bill of Rs172,000 showing arrears of Rs69,000. The bill was Rs5000 per location plus GST, showing an increase of 400 percent due to the Rs4000 per location increase.

These bills are issued from PTCL Islamabad. When we went there and asked for our last quarter bill which had not been sent for the past three months with the excuse that there was some computer fault and bills could not be generated, we discovered the over-charged bill.

There was no prior intimation. We were asked to pay surcharge and penalty for not paying the previous quarter bill. When we objected to this the officials said that if we did not pay our entire PTCL lines at all locations would be terminated within seven days.

I would like to ask the chairman of PTCL as to how can one increase the rate to 400 percent without any notice, and how has the PTA (Pakistan Telecommunications Authority) given the permission for this blatant increase. PTCL is not totally privatised owning a majority of the shares with the public holding of only 26 percent of the shares. Kindly review the existing situation.

S M ARIF
Karachi