Seven Long Distance International (LDI) companies in Pakistan have been operating without licenses and fees for several months, despite owing the government a whopping Rs 58.9 billion in arrears. The actual value of the liabilities owed by LDI companies is Rs 16.7 billion, with an additional surcharge of Rs 42.2 billion.
The companies in question include:
– Worldcall Telecom
– Wateen Telecom
– Telecard
– Dencom Pakistan
– Redtone Telecommunication Pakistan
– Wise Communication
– Circle Net Communication Private Limited
The IT Ministry and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) have failed to recover the dues, and the matter has been prolonged due to disputes between the IT Ministry and the LDI companies. The Prime Minister noticed the issue and removed the IT Secretary from their post.
The Law Division recommended that these defaulting LDI operators should not be given licenses. Despite this, the IT Ministry, PTA, and LDI operators have not resolved the matter, causing continuous losses to the government exchequer.
