Panel suggests review of USC sell-off decision
ISLAMABAD: The 9th meeting of the Standing Committee on Privatisation held Friday under the chairmanship of Muhammad Farooq Sattar, here at Parliament House.
After confirmation of the minutes of previous meeting, secretary Privatisation Division briefed the committee on the implementation status on the recommendations of the previous meeting and stated that the committee had recommended that the decision to privatise Utility Stores Corporation (USC) should be reviewed.
He stated that the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation/Cabinet is the competent forum for inclusion of SOEs in the privatisation programme and the recommendations of the Standing Committee will be brought before CCOP/Cabinet.
Hesco, Pesco and Fesco: PD tasked with completing sell-off homework by Q2
The representatives of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) and Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) briefed the committee on the progress of privatisation process of the DISCOs.
The committee showed its serious concern over unannounced and heavy load shedding and directed to ensure to minimise the load shedding duration.
The committee also expressed its displeasure on non-cooperation and not attending the phone calls of the public representatives and directed to ensure and prioritise the parliamentarian's telephone calls and to resolve their matters.
The representative of the Ministry of Finance briefed the committee on the status of Rs48 billion promissory notes and the interest acquired thereon.
He informed the committee that in 2021-22 Rs14 billion provided to Postal Life Insurance Company Limited (PLICL) and government of Pakistan stand committed to pay the remaining amount.
On the other hand, the representative of the PLICL informed the committee that Ministry of Finance is not paying sufficient amount to meet the clients claims that is why the number of clients have been dropped up to 50 per cent.
After thorough deliberation on the subject, the committee observed that the PLICL stance is justified and recommended that an amount of Rs8 billion must be provided to PLICL latest by September 2025.
The committee also recommended that PLICL must ensure to protect the policy holders rights.
The committee deferred, 'The Privatisation Commission (AMENDMENT) Bill, 2024' (government bill) till its next meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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