The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has proposed new PTA draft rules, the International Roaming (Inbound) Regulations, 2026, to curb foreign SIM fraud and permanent roaming, according to reports.
What the PTA Draft Rules Say
A connection would count as permanent roaming if it stays active for 90 or more days within any 180-day period. Such connections could be suspended or blocked if operators cannot verify legitimate temporary use. Operators would verify passport or travel-document details, nationality, SIM or eSIM identifiers and home operator information for inbound roamers, using activation checks, welcome SMS links, a PTA-approved portal or border-control data.
Rules for Travel eSIM Providers and Operators
Travel SIM and eSIM aggregators would need PTA registration, disclose their network partners and appoint a local contact person. Operators would keep roaming records for at least 12 months and report regularly to the PTA. Foreign home operators would have 72 hours to answer subscriber-information requests, or 24 hours in urgent fraud or security cases.
The draft also proposes a central database of blocked inbound roaming connections so suspended users cannot reconnect through another operator, and limits on using M2M and IoT SIMs for regular consumer services. The PTA cites spoofed calls, SMS phishing, extortion and revenue losses as reasons. The report does not state penalties or a public-comment deadline.
