Telenor has requested the government of Pakistan to compensate for its losses due to mobile services suspension since the last year. The telecom operator has filed its losses to be Rs. 163 million for all the times the services remained suspended on different occasions. The letter was written to Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) requesting the reimbursement of the revenue Telenor lost due to the orders of Interior Ministry.
Previously in November 2012, the telecom operators had jointly written a letter to the MoITT for compensation of Rs. 1 billion to cater for the losses due to mobile services suspension but it was all in vain as the ministry did not respond to the letter at all. Furthermore, the government kept on suspending the services even after their letter in the name of security management against any possible terrorist act.
Telenor had also filed a case in the Sindh High Court (SHC) against the temporary suspension of cellular phone services. The case is still sub-judice in the high court. The petition stated that the suspension of services by government is against the licensing agreement and also violates the Telecom Act.
It is worth mentioning here the clause 54 of Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act:
National Security.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, in the interest of national security or in the apprehension of any offence, the Federal Government may authorise any person or persons to intercept calls and messages or to trace calls through any telecommunication system.
(2) During a war or hostilities against Pakistan by any foreign power or internal aggression or for the defense or security of Pakistan, the Federal Government shall have preference and priority in telecommunication system over any licensee.
(3) Upon proclamation of emergency by the President, the Federal Government may suspend or modify all or any order or licences made or issued under this Act or cause suspension of operation, functions or services of any licensee for such time as it may deem necessary.
Provided that the Federal Government may compensate any licensee whose facilities or services are affected by any action under this sub-section.
According to the last line of the clause, the government is bound to compensate for the losses the operator/licensee bears during the suspension of services. According to an estimate, the overall losses incurred by the telecom operators are nearly Rs 1.5 billion.
