The InstaMobile, a defunct cellular company has outstanding dues of around Rs 22 billion while the annual cellular revenue in the country is around US $3.5 billion. Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Dr Ismael Shah said this on Wednesday while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat here in the Parliament House.
He informed the committee members that users of broadband have increased up to 30 million in the country while there are a total of 131 million mobile phone subscribers in the country. Briefing the committee members about merger request of Mobilink and Warid telecom, he said the process was underway and its completion will take some time.
Talking about the Plant Breeders Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2015, chairman of the committee Rana Muhammad Hayat Khan said the cotton production has decreased from 35 to 40 percent after the handing over of its affairs to Ministry of Textile Industries. He recommended the transfer of cotton and fisheries affairs to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research for efficient handling of the affairs.
The committee recommended amending 'The Service Tribunals (Amendment) Bill 2016'. The committee passed only one clause of Service Tribunals (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which reduces appeal period from 120 to 45 days and asked the mover of the Bill to amend other clauses of the Bill. This bill was moved by Dr Fouzia Hameed. The committee members were informed that debt of the PIA has Rs 174 billion marks while Shaheen Air has been clearing its outstanding dues of the Civil Aviation Authority in instalments since 2004.
To further look into affairs of the Civil Aviation Authority and Pakistan International Airlines, the committee chairman constituted a sub-committee which will be headed by Sardar Mansab Dogar. Members of the sub-committee include Syed Ali Raza Abidi, Roshan Din Junejo and Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak. Briefing of the Capital Development Authority on recovery of outstanding amount on commercial and residential plots and China-cutting at Rawal dam was deferred till Thursday due to absence of the authority's chairman Maroof Afzal.
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