Due to a delay in paying licence renewal payments, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has ordered Jazz and Telenor Pakistan to pay a late payment fee of $60.792 million, or $30.54 million each, as an extra fee. Both operators are required to pay the unpaid dues within seven (07) days of receiving the order, and in the event of non-compliance with the order, the situation will be handled according to applicable legislation without further notice.
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The case of late payment was heard by a panel consisting of PTA Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa, Member Compliance and Enforcement Dr. Khawaja Siddiqui Khokhar, and Member Finance Muhammad Naveed, who issued orders against the two operators. For those unfamiliar with the situation, both Jazz and Telenor had challenged the new cost structure for licences and had taken the matter to court to resolve the conflict. Both carriers’ cellular licences were expected to expire in May 2019, and the PTA set the renewal fee at $449 million. Not to mention that both operators paid $291 million for the same licence in 2004. Jazz and Telenor filed a lawsuit in response to the charge hike, claiming that the adjustment was unwarranted.
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PTA eventually won the lawsuit, but because the case was in court, the renewal price was paid late (in December 2021), and as a result, PTA has levied a fine or, perhaps more accurately, a late payment fee, which both operators must now repay within seven days. While we do not yet have formal confirmation, this new decision is likely to be contested in court once more. It is important to note that PTA sent both operators a payment notice in 2021, which was not honoured. For the same, both operators were served with a show cause notice, and the aforementioned ruling was given following deliberation and hearings from both operators.
