> KARACHI:
> It seems that no one can beat our bureaucrats when it comes to
> spending someone else’s money to appease the sitting government.
> Telecom operators’ apprehension about the misuse of their hard-earned
> money by Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) is the latest
> attack on one of the highly taxed sectors of the economy.

> Telecom companies contributed Rs117 billion, almost one-third of its
> revenues, to the national exchequer last year; it may have fallen
> short of the government’s expectations though as the latter,
> allegedly, spent Rs120 million out of a telecom fund for political
> gains.

> MoIT has spent a huge amount out of the Universal Service Fund (USF)
> on projecting the achievements of the government in electronic media
> during last two months, stakeholders said in a written complaint to IT
> and Telecom Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

> They also asked Ashraf to conduct an inquiry about the illegal use of
> USF and take action against those responsible for the same; a source
> familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune.

> Telecom operators – each of whom contributes 1.5% of their gross
> income to USF – are the sole sponsor of the company. USF is meant for
> the expansion of telecom network to the remote areas – which do not
> make a business case for telecos.

> The aforesaid amount, according to the source, was spent without any
> budget allocation and approval of the USF’s board of directors.
> Competitive bidding procedure and Public Procurement Rules were not
> followed either while awarding the contract to a single ad agency, the
> source added. This act is contrary to the Public Procurement
> Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002; the source said.

> The money spent on media campaign, the source said, was in violation
> of section 33 (B) (2) of Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization)
> (Amendment) Act, 2005, which states:

> “The USF shall be utilised exclusively for providing access to
> telecommunication services to people in the un-served, under-served,
> rural and remote areas and other expenditure to be made and incurred
> by the Federal Government in managing USF.”

> The USF’s last year’s advertising budget was about Rs5 to 6 million,
> the source said, but this year they spent Rs120 million and that, too,
> on political campaign – causing uneasiness among telecos whose money
> was wasted in media campaign for political purposes.

> USF currently has about Rs30 billion in its account; the telecos
> annual contribution to the fund is about Rs3 to 4 billion, the source
> said. This money – which would be needed for the expansion of telecom
> network to remote locations following the 3G auction – is likely to be
> used for political campaigns as general elections are nearing, the
> source said.

> Another telecom source, who wished not to be named, also confirmed
> that the money spent on the media campaign was not approved by the
> board. He, however, said USF has about Rs40 to Rs45 billion its
> account while the money used in the ad campaign was higher than Rs120
> million.

> Despite several attempts – via phone and email – to contact the
> minister; secretary and other MoIT officials, no contact could be
> established to find out if any inquiry has been launched in this
> regard.
> However, a government official – when contacted on his cell phone –
> said the media campaign was approved by the Prime Minister, then
> chairman of USF board.

> The chairman can’t approve this without the approval of the board, the
> official said, requesting he should not be quoted. Representatives of
> the telecom sector are also on board, he said, they were part of the
> decision.
> The use of funds depends upon the board that owns the fund, the
> official said, adding if the board desires to use it for advertising,
> it can. However, it is done in accord with the rules and regulations
> governing USF; he added.
> The official refused to talk about the amount used for the media
> campaign, saying it was not in his knowledge.

> Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2012.

> http://tribune.com.pk/story/379969/financial-discrepancy-audit-of-uni...

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