Govt Approves Telecom Revenue Transfer To AJK

In a significant development, the Federal Government of Pakistan 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. Recently, a cabinet meeting took place in which this decision was taken. Previously, the funds were collected by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on behalf of the AJK Council. However, now things will change as the government has approved telecom revenue transfer to AJK.

AJK To Get Telecom Revenue From Now Onwards

Sources claim that the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan recently presented the issue in a cabinet meeting held on February 6, 2024. The same issue was initially raised by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication. In the meeting, the cabinet suggested the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs to draft a detailed summary. The summary needs to incorporate views from relevant ministries, for reference in its next meeting.

The government took this step when an inter-ministerial committee by the Prime Minister was formed. The Defense Minister was made its convener, to assess and guide the process for transferring telecom-related proceeds to the AJK government. On December 29, 2023, the committee chose to form a sub-committee for in-depth examination. In the end, it subsequently suggested the transfer of funds to the AJK government. The full committee approved this proposal on January 18, 2024. It prompted the IT ministry to prioritize the submission of a synopsis to the federal cabinet.

PTA needs to transfer at least 50% of the fees received from telecom licensees to the AJK Council as per the current legal framework, particularly Section 5(2) of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council Adaptation of Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 2005. This move strives to fix an anomaly created by the existing legal provisions and owns the legislative competence of the AJK Assembly in matters of telecommunication as recapitulated in the AJK Constitution.