SIALKOT, Dec 27: Several Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) consumers gave their vent against the company for not fixing four exchanges in the district at an open court attended by Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool on Tuesday.

Four telephone exchanges have been lying dead for the last several months making hundreds of telephones.

The governor who held the court at the Anwar Club Auditorium heard complaints against other departments as well.

Affected consumers told the governor that telephone exchanges in Rohaila Sahowala, Ramgarh and Chaprar had been lying dead for the last eight months and their repeated appeals to senior PTCL officials went unheard. The PTCL, however, was quick at charging monthly taxes, they said.

Consumers from Sialkot, Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur said the PTCL had failed to deliver the bills in time.

Sialkot PTCL Director Khwaja Faisal Mushtaq said PTCL main lines had been cut at various spots near Sambrial due to the construction of Sialkot-Sambrial-Wazirabad Road. He announced that all these telephone exchanges would be rectified within 24 hours.

The people also spoke against the alleged poor performance of the Regional Passport Office, saying that officials extorted bribe through agents by demanding Rs500 to Rs2,000 for a computerised passport.

The governor asked Sialkot District Nazim Muhammad Akmal Cheema to probe into the complaints. He also ordered the early shifting of Sialkot National Database Authority office and Sialkot Regional Passport Office to suitable place in the Sialkot city.

The governor also directed the Gujranwala Power Company to replace of all the burnt electricity meters and transformers at its own expenses.

Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Cabinet Division Dr Fardous Ashiq Awan,

Punjab Minister for Power Armughan Subhani and MPAs Khush Akhtar Subhani, Shehla Shahid Butt and Mumtaz Ali were also present.