State Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rehman Khan will meet officials of the companies next week to explain reasons as to why government had transferred Rs60bn funds to the public account.
The ministry is of the view that under the law it cannot retain the USF legally.
Officials told Dawn on Wednesday that the government was also considering engaging the Planning Commission to vet any USF-related project in the future.The Planning Commission will approve the project before funds for it are released, a ministry official said.
The ministry will have no role in the approval of the project and release of funds.
Telecom companies suspect that funds being collected from them to promote development of telecommunication services in far flung areas of the country could be used to finance budget deficit or to pay unpaid bills of power companies.
The fund consists of contributions made by telecom companies equal to 1.5pc of their adjusted revenues.
A telecom company official says the government must clarify as to how the new process will work for projects that have been completed and delivered for audit.
Incidental revisions/adjustments in the rules have not been provided for telecom companies and there is ambiguity on how these will be resolved,1 he said.
He said the government should have taken the operators into confidence before transferring funds to the consolidated fund.
He said accounting and audit process had not been reviewed in the new rules laid out by the government.
Will chartered accountants be allowed as was the practice previously?
An official of another operator said the recent increase in taxes and ban on night packages had also infuriated the operators. He said the new government should take some positive steps showing it was willing to support the industry.
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