Emirates Telecommunications Corporation - Acquisition of PTCL and Parliamentary Inquiry

Acquisition of PTCL and Parliamentary Inquiry

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on IT and Telecom criticized PTCL’s administration over its inability to fulfil obligations made to the government. On 20 December 2010, the committee met under the chairmanship of Chaudhry Muhammad Barjees Tahir, at the parliament house to probe into the privatization of PTCL. After hearing the officials of both the ministries, the committee declared that despite having outstanding financial portfolio, PTCL was privatized to an entity which did not fulfill contractual obligations despite the grant of concessions by the government.

On 01 Jan 2011, The Federal Minister for Privatisation Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan Wednesday revealed before the National Assembly that the privatization deal of PTCL with Etisalat was not transparent and made in violation of rules and procedures.

“The part of the privatisation of PTCL was not transparent. It was made in violation of the rules and procedures, said the minister replied to a question, and later, the House referred the matter to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatisation for sin.

It was told to the House that the SPA is completed and the transaction was made without the privatization of the Commission Council in confidence, adding that Etisalat 800 million U.S. dollars has kept the sport of land issue be transferred to the UAE-based company. Also, it was found out that around 3,500 properties were to be transferred to Etisalat which also comprise lands not even owned by federal or any provincial government rather either those are private properties are under litigation.

In June 2005, Etisalat $2.6 billion bid beat those of Singapore Telecom and China mobile for the purchase of a 26 per cent stake in PTCL, Pakistan’s telecom operator. Etisalat has management control with 26 per cent shares of PTCL, which was in 2006 for US$2.6 billion and is withholding $ 799,000,000 worth of initial payments to the Pakistani Government, part of the company’s 2006 properties with the acquisition in PTCL registered in name.

The Performance under control to Etisalat, PtCl wealth declined. For four years, before privatization, profit after tax increased from approximately 18 billion to more than 27 billion rupees, which is the rate corresponding to 11 percent annually.

The committee expressed its reservations over the entire privatization process and said, “it seems as if the previous government wanted to get rid of PTCL which was a profit earning entity at the time of its privatisation.”

The committee also expressed reservations over the exclusion of Telephone Industries of Pakistan from the privatization process, which was a subsidiary of PTCL.

Matter is still under investigation by the committee under his chairmanship and house is waiting for the committee's report.