PTCL Asked to Packup if it can't Deliver: SC

Taking notice of the poor service by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) to the subscribers, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday called for the appearance of Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Muhammad Nasrullah and the PTCL chief legal manager on May 18 next.

Also comprising Justice Fakir Muhammad Khokhar, the bench looked with concern at the PTCL slow attendance to the consumers sufferings and late its awakening to the need of getting power generators in order to keep the batteries in working order round the clock to fend off incessant line droppings.

The Court was hearing a human right complaint emanated from a press column of Irshad Ahmad Haqqani published some two months ago grousing about the poor telephone services, provided by the PTCL. Following the Court direction, Regional General Manager Rasheed Ahmad and other officials appeared and described to the court loadshedding as basic reason for line droppings as the batteries operating the system fail due to non-supply of electricity. Lack of coordination between the departments was told to the court another reason for the said problems. The GM said Wasa during roads digging cuts off the telephone lines without apprising the company in this regard. He said they have recently gone in for the generators to provide continuous supply of power to the batteries.

Justice Ramday took this statement very seriously in the context that more than a year had gone since load-shedding was continuing and a layman knew that once energy of a battery gets exhausted, it needs recharging and the department had become alive to this fact and need of purchasing the generators so late at the cost of heavy troubles to the subscribers. The judge remarked does this fact call for indulgence of this court to look into the very privatisation of the PTCL after which such a situation has cropped up.

Justice Ramday asked, for what the company gets money from the subscribers if it was unable to provide the promised service to them. He said if loadshedding is affecting the service it is responsibility of the department to overcome it and not to let the subscribers suffer for that. The Judge said the department has been sleeping over the matter and could get up just a week back when it purchased the generators. He said if you cannot provide due service to the people, you had better pack up and go. The Court wanted the officers to take initiative measures to overcome problems within this month but they requested for more time for which the court felt reluctant. However, in order to appraise the situation fully, the court called for the appearance of Chief Technical Officer and Principal Law Officer of the PTCL on May 18.

Update: PTCL Given 5 weeks to improve services

Via [TMCNet]


  • its nice to see that strict actions are being taken in consumer court.
    a customer must know his rites.!

  • CLI not working nowadays on my land line, even when I call from my Cell phone, though every month I am being charged Rs 30 for the same. Only an —-E—- appears on set. Anyone having similar problem?

  • It’s good decision of SC to take action against PTCL how the consumers are disturbed by their poor services. My Phone line is dropings after every hour due to power shut down as PTCL batteries are not working and i have been facing this problem for two weeks.

  • Hey this is judiciary and we all love it. Justice Sahib we love you. Its people like you that can put a stop to poor services in every context in this country. The situation is disgusting and after reading this all i can say is way to go SC bench. I really hope they do the same to telcom operators, especially Warid Telecom. I am sure everyone in the judiciary knows what they did last year and the frauds that were commited. They should get involved in all the Warid cases and thell them also to pack their bags.

  • PTCL———simple solution for them.
    They should outsource their customer support, call centre to a third party. Every one in thier call centres have a different idea about every single issue.

  • @ Aminah
    PTA can handle them , but for that people need to contact PTA.
    Companies which are in competition, are doing better than PTCL. Remove the P from PTCL and they will be in deep trouble. Till now, what they have enjoyed is just because of that P.

  • I believe World Call should also be called in as they have failed to install electricity backup systems. Service vanish atleast on my connection.

    Customer support has been pathetic and complaint to PTA has not worked. Next step will be get rid of them :)

    FS

  • Thank God some people are here who can take notice against poor customer support.

    I am sick of PTCL exchange staff when i call management then they talk action but nature can never be changed so exchange ppl do what they want. They fix my line but left some problems and told to management prob solved.

  • I still have 3 numbers unrepaired from last 8 months, although applied for disconnection after paying the P.T.C.L dues, 4 months before, but bill is coming regulerly of line rent.

  • I have been suffered for more than 18 months for using PTCL DSL serive which never heppen to be optimized and frequent, but interepted and slow connectivity. I had been suggested from PTCL staff to get an other new connection for 2 MB DSL through fiber optic phone line connection. Which was installed last year in September but the connection could not be available yet due to PTCL exchange disablities, however for upto 900 Rupees under PRS 0900 calls I have been charged for the last 3 months which I never did. On my complaint they did not acknowledge that could be due to some error and insist these call were been made. I don’t know who from the hell made this calls from line boxes. I had installation of this fiber optic number only to get a properly working Internet Connection which PTCL was unable to provide due to their disable capabilities, but they made me suffer with wrong bills for nothing. Moreover, the other number on which I had been using DSL for 18 months become worst and useless from Jan 2009 – April 2009 and PTCL could not fix the problem even I had at least 10 complains/each month, but I had to pay full 2MB package bill. PTCL record system evem does not notify their billing department that the services was not provided so that they must not charge for the service or charge nill due to PTCL diseffeciency and faults. In May 2009 I have made termination notice for both numbers I have been using. I have aslo made termination notice early this month for DSL service for which I have given a request number which suppose to be applied with in a week but I just have receive new bill showing the service is still active!
    I think I’m not only one who is been suffering for the “crime” of using PTCL. There would be hundered of throusands who are being exploited by PTCL, I wish if SC could address and audit PTCL before it is privatise, and make sure to refund or compansate all PTCL user who have been charged for nothing.

  • PTCL and other service providers have fibre-optic lines which do not use even 10% of their potential. Compared to Copper Lines , fibre optic pair (NWD)can bear infinite communication lines by adding point to point equipment only. They have about 24 pairs and using only two pairs. One is for smart tv etc. The sufferings of customer needed attention and SC level instructions are going to be very popular and relieving.
    We continuously pay for broken lines over months: Our industry (Leather) is second export based industry after textiles, and yet ask Pakistan Tanners Association responsible for Leather tanning industry, sector 7/A Korangi Industrial Area is paying for nothing (almost). Our complaints go unheeded and no compensation is ever allowed for dis-service. Our telephone lines, our v-ptcl connections, our copper lines, our fibre optic based BRI lines are inefficient and remain unserviced for months, without respite.

  • Ptcl’s New monopoly. PTCL Smart Tv is not providing major indian channels like star plus , Sony , Zee TV , Zee Cenima, Sony Max and several other channels. Because they dont want to desi cable wala’s to pack up their setups as some of the senior PTCL officials are involved in this business.
    Specially in Karachi PTCL are cooperating with Desi cable walay people as Govt have strong relations with MQM party and MQM has a hold in desi cable system in karachi.
    PTCL is always flopped in every service and here once again PTCL has proved not to provide indian channels in their service.
    One more thread is that GEO and several other local news channels do not want their channel shown on PTCL service because Govt can ban their channels very easily on their Smart Tv system.

  • same shit problem here with me, i’ma 2mb user and the copper line which iam using has 100s of joints, the installers (taliban looking jutt jahil ignorant ones who come for assistance after a zillion calls, they dont even know how to configure a modem, they were literally linemen here and than when ptcl broadband was introduced those jahil ignorant linemen became DSL INSTALLERS from nowhere; can u believe that?) they came and saw the line and asked me to change the line ON MY OWN APPROACH or shift to FIBER OPTIC which is miles away from my home.

    pretty helpless ignorant jahil people hired by PTCL, lame name PTCL

  • hate to say it, but its time for another major change in PTCL management. Poor Walid Irshaid has yelled as much as he could.
    The company needs to shed a lot of weight. I had written a report for the ministry in 2006, and I saw a copy in PTCL of that report.
    Here is what I recommended for this 5M subscriber company (over estimate of all services combined).
    1. Only 14 Vice Presidents (merge SEVP/EVP).
    2. Each VP to have 3-5 GM’s no more.
    3. Finance and Accounting to have no more then 10 people under CFO in this day and age of automation. Just find out how many people are under CFO in sister U-Fone.
    4. 90% engineering and development to be outsourced to vendors.
    5. Rent out all the office buildings and residential buildings.
    6. Shares should be bought back from Etisalat.
    7. The value of PTCL real-estate property alone is more then $10 Billion.
    8. Look at what Warid is worth $2.45 Billion in rented properties and 17-18 Million customers, and a non-profit outfit. PTCL is a profitable company.
    Regards

    2.


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