Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja has said the administration has no plans to introduce further fines for telecom operators over complaints of weak signals, poor internet quality and service disruptions.
The issue was raised in the National Assembly by MNA Nasim Ali Shah. This person asked whether operators were charging customers full tariffs despite providing fragile network coverage and substandard data services in Bannu and other underserved areas.
In her response, the minister said telecom operators charge customers according to their advertised tariffs and are required to meet quality-of-service standards under their licences.
She said some operators offer location-based or regional packages at discounted rates, depending on commercial and market conditions.
According to the minister, no separate policy for additional penalties is at present being proposed because the existing regulatory framework already allows the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to take action against operators that violate licence or Quality of Service requirements.
What happened
The PTA can issue warning letters and Show Cause Notices and impose financial penalties for non-compliance.
The government has additionally strengthened telecom licence conditions through the recent spectrum auction, including higher Quality of Service benchmarks and additional 4G and 5G rollout requirements.
During the past four years, PTA conducted more than 500 Quality of Service surveys across cities, rural areas, highways, motorways and railway routes, along with over 200 complaint-based surveys.
The regulator issued 20 warning letters and 86 Show Cause Notices and imposed Rs. 3.41 billion in financial penalties on telecom operators during the period.
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