Govt loses Rs30 billion: Rehman Malik reaps ‘grey’ calls windfall
ISLAMABAD, June 14: The government is facing an estimated annual revenue loss of over Rs 30 billion on account of ‘grey telephony’ under which international calls are re-routed through local — often illegal — exchanges to avoid local taxes, mainly because of policies designed apparently to favour a sitting powerful minister.
...
One of the leading beneficiaries of the grey traffic is Rodcom Europe, now being renamed as Hollywell Solutions. Rehman Malik, the sitting interior minister, is the chairman of London-based Rodcom Europe — a specialised VOIP (voice-over internet protocol) company established in 2001 “offering a limited number of high quality routes to a limited number of high quality customers”, according to the company website.It says its early destinations were mainly to Europe and “Pakistan soon joined them when VOIP licences were first issued in 2003”. Rodcom’s activities in Pakistan, the website claimed, “have grown to a level where we are now one of the top five senders of Pakistan calls in Europe
[So RM got this favor from Musharraf]
...
Regardless of whether or not Rodcom is operating legally, Rehman Malik’s ownership of the company raises moral and ethical questions. “That a federal minister who oversees law enforcement agencies which are required to curb such illegal telephone calls, should own a company involved in this business is clearly a conflict of interest,” an observer said.
[Another example of fox guarding the hen house]
...
What makes the conflict of interest issue more serious is the fact that the current government has not made a concerted effort to eliminate the grey traffic; instead circumstantial evidence suggests that official policies have encouraged such activity.
...
HOW GREY TRAFFIC RUNS: Grey traffic is defined as the use of illegal exchanges for making international calls, bypassing the legal routes and exchanges. These illegal exchanges include VOIP (Voice-Over Internet Protocol) that uses a computer; GSM (Global System for Mobile) gateways; WLL (wireless local loop) phones or mobile SIMs. This traffic may then be distributed onwards using WLL and mobile numbers.
