The Federal Government has amended the law to facilitate the transfer of telecom license fees, renewal fees, and spectrum auction proceeds to the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) regional government.
This decision, made in a recent cabinet meeting, marks a departure from the previous arrangement where these funds were managed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on behalf of the AJK Council.
The Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, in a cabinet meeting held on February 6, 2024, presented the issue, initially raised by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.
The cabinet directed the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs to prepare a detailed summary, incorporating views from relevant ministries, for consideration in its next meeting.
This move follows the formation of an inter-ministerial committee by the Prime Minister, with the Defense Minister as its convener, to evaluate and recommend the process for transferring telecom-related proceeds to the AJK government.
On December 29, 2023, the committee decided to form a sub-committee for in-depth examination, which subsequently recommended the transfer of funds to the AJK government.
The full committee endorsed this proposal on January 18, 2024, prompting the IT ministry to prioritize the submission of a summary to the federal cabinet.
Under the current legal framework, specifically Section 5(2) of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council Adaptation of Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 2005, PTA is required to transfer at least 50% of the fees received from telecom licensees to the AJK Council.
However, the adaptation of this act in light of the AJK Interim Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 2018, led to ambiguities regarding the rightful recipient of these funds.
The proposed amendment seeks to clarify that telecom-related proceeds, which were never part of the government of Pakistan’s non-tax revenues, should rightfully be transferred to the AJK government.
This adjustment aims to rectify an anomaly created by the existing legal provisions and acknowledges the legislative competence of the AJK Assembly in matters of telecommunication as outlined in the AJK Constitution.
Excellent post shared in this article