ISLAMABAD: The ministry of information on Thursday dispatched a summary to the Prime Minister Office to arbitrate payments to media houses, sources said on Thursday.
The development occurred on the Supreme Court orders. Earlier, the ministry had ‘denied’ paying Rs7.4 billion to media channels and newspapers.
It is pertinent to mention here that the federal and provincials governments had given billions of rupees ads to both print and electronic media and it was allegedly playing delay tactics in the payments.
Following the situation, the media houses filed a petition in the Supreme Court and now on the court orders, the information ministry dispatched this summery to the prime minister office for approval.
According to the summary, the federal and provincial governments have to pay Rs400 million to newspapers and Rs240 million to TV channels.
It is being feared that if the government doesn’t pay the due immediately, media houses will be under pressure and salaries of media staff and journalists can further be delayed.
The sources said if the current government doesn’t ensure the payments, the pressure would be transferred to the upcoming government.
