LAHORE, Feb 27: The government has decided to abolish cross media licensing restrictions and a meeting of the stakeholders has been called on March 2.

According to sources in the Ministry of Information, the government has been under sustained pressure from interested parties to do away with the restriction as it has failed to achieve the desired results. This is largely because the government has also not been able to implement it in its true spirit.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Ordinance, 2002, had identified five areas and disallowed issuance of cross licences. It said that investors dealing in print media will not get licence for electronic media (radio, TV), production houses or advertising agencies. Similarly, investors with stakes in radio or television would not be entertained for print media or advertising agencies.

“The purpose for including the restrictions in the ordinance was to avoid setting big media houses that could monopolize different facets of it,” says an employee of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The ordinance drew strength from the Constitution that discourages monopolies in order to ensure social justice in the country. But, in spite of this, the relevant provisions could not be implemented by the government.

Since the issuance of the Pemra Ordinance in March, 2002, media houses have experienced more growth in different fields. This obviously belied the logic of keeping them on the legal books, the PTA employee added.