Telecom sector criticises 'media trial'

The telecom sector has refuted reports appearing in a section of the press, accusing it of evading sales tax on interconnection charges over the past five years. A joint statement issued by the telecom companies said that the media reports, in which NAB claimed that the firms had agreed to pay allegedly owed to the tax authorities, were incorrect.
The telecom sector also refuted the claim that they had threatened to stop providing services in response to the NAB inquiry on the issue of alleged evasion of federal excise duty. However, the telecom sector said that it reserved the right to take all necessary measures at appropriate time to protect the mobile telecom industry and to record their legitimate protest against unjustifiable persecution and media trial.
A representative of the telecom sector said that no agreement had been reached with NAB on the payment issue, adding that the sector had requested a week for preparing a legal response to the allegations levelled by NAB. The telecom sector representative also clarified that this alleged tax evasion was based on misinterpreted understanding of facts and procedure of laws relating to the case.
Highlighting the fact that the telecom sector first learnt about the alleged tax evasion and its extent through media reports, he said that NAB and FBR had never issued any show-cause notice or demand or even shared information on how the authorities had calculated the money owed by each of the telecom sector organisation.
The telecom sector also highlighted that in addition to a stay order from the Islamabad High Court, it also approached the Prime Minister, as well as the National Assembly and PTA to notify them of the media and public trial that the sector had to face. A highly publicised hearing of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on ICT reached a unanimous conclusion that the telecom sector had not been involved in the alleged tax evasion and a sub-committee had been constituted to fix the responsibility on the FBR official who was responsible for this alleged claim.
This conclusion was reached following supporting statements by independent tax and legal experts, the FBR, and the PTA. In the light of the above facts, the telecom sector requested the support of the media in creating clarity in the public domain to put an end to this damaging public trial to save foreign investments within an already fragile economy of the country.-PR