Telecom Tribunal Bill Passed; E-Office Implementation Urged

Islamabad:The 3rd meeting of the Standing Committee on Information Technology & Telecommunication was held today under the Chairmanship of Syed Amin ul Haq, MNA at 11:00 A.M. in Committee Room No. 07, Parliament House, Islamabad.

 The Committee discussed “The Establishment of Telecommunication Appellate Tribunal Bill, 2024” (Government Bill) in detail. The representative from Ministry of Law & Justice briefly apprised the Committee that under Rule of Business the constitution of all the tribunals are purely the subject of Ministry of Law and Justice.Telecom Tribunal Bill Passed; E-Office Implementation Urged

 While briefing about the procedure for appointment of Chairpersons for the said tribunal, he told the Committee that M/o Law & Justice publish advertisement in the newspaper and thereafter the Search Committee headed by 20 Grade Officer in the Ministry of Law & Justice scrutinize the candidature as per prescribed criteria.

The Search Committee short listed the candidates and forwarded it to the Federal Council headed by the Law Minister and 2 Federal Secretaries as its members, interviews the shortlisted candidates and forward its recommendations to the Federal Cabinet, which then appoints a Chairperson and members of tribunals. The Committee agreed with the representative of the Ministry of Law & Justice and thereafter unanimously passed “The Establishment of Telecommunication Appellate Tribunal Bill, 2024” without any amendment.

The Committee expressed concern that E-Office has been launched for last four years, and still not been properly implemented within the Ministries, even though, the Prime Minister has also conducted a meeting on it to clarify the methodology and removal of barriers towards paperless environment.

 The Federal Minister expressed that ministry initiated steps for its implementation and this system should starts from the top level which is Federal Secretaries and Ministers and then it will automatically be implemented step by step downwards to digitize the entire system.

 Further she said that it is very important to align all the Ministries to play their role for implement E-office within all Ministries and offices to promote paperless environment and improve efficiency. The Committee also recommended that Ministry may devise a policy to ensure the security of official correspondence and documents.

The Committee was further briefed by Chairman NITB, regarding the launching of Aportille application on the request of Foreign Office to cater the needs of overseas employees and their documents processing.

 The Committee stressed upon the need of said application and directed them to ensure it’s launching with 15 days so that the problems and difficulties faced by them could be resolved, immediately.

The Committee further expressed that basic mandate of the Ministry is to formulate policies and vision and Ministry should collaborate with the Provincial Ministers for Information Technology regarding implementation of these policies in other provinces.

The Committee also expressed concern that four districts of Baluchistan have been deprived from the facility of mobile data for last three years. The Committee decided to call Chairman PTA, in its next meeting to brief the Committee about the issue with the comment that the provision of Internet facility is a fundamental right of every citizen.

The following MNAs namely Mr. Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, Mr. Ahmad Atteeq Anwar, Mr. Ammar Ahmad Khan Leghari, Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, Syed Mustafa Kamal, Mr. Pullain, Mr. Sher Ali Arbab and Mr. Umair Khan Niazi, besides the officials of the Ministry attended the meeting.

Out of rate cut respondents, 60% are viewing rate cut of 100bps, 36% are expecting 150bps and remaining 200bps.

Interestingly, compared to last poll, investors are now expecting more aggressive cuts till Dec 2024. In last poll, 40% participants were expecting rates to remain above 18% by Dec 2024, while in our recent poll, this ratio has come down to 27%. Now 62% of the participants are expecting rates to remain in range of 16-18% by Dec 2024 (earlier: 49%). We believe this shift is more slower and gradual impact of budgetary measures on inflation (as power tariff for life line consumers will increase from Oct onwards).

On PKR/USD side, market participants are also expecting lower devaluation than last poll results. Around 38% were expecting depreciation in range of 6-8% in last poll, in current poll this ratio has come down to 21%. Similarly, 21% were expecting +8% devaluation in last poll, while now only 8% of the participants are expecting +8% devaluation.

We believe, currency prospects/expectations have improved due to smooth execution of Staff Level agreement between the IMF and Government.

In last poll, we asked participants an additional question relating to timing of the IMF’s Staff Level Agreement (SLA). 62% of the participants expected it for Jul 2024 and in line with their expectations, IMF announced staff level agreement with Pakistan on Jul 12, 2024, topline said.