PTA-CCP Jurisdiction Dispute Reaches Supreme Court as Telecom Competition Rules Face Further Delays

Pakistan’s proposed Telecommunication Competition Rules, 2026, remain unfinalized as a dispute over regulatory authority continues between the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP).

PTA has challenged the judgment before the Supreme Court, according to documents cited in the September 17 briefing. The appeal remains pending, leaving the dispute unresolved at the highest judicial level.

Documents presented during the briefing on a Senate question indicate that the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has yet to finalize the rules, despite several rounds of consultations with PTA this year. The delay leaves a proposed sector-specific framework for telecom competition awaiting approval.

The disagreement centers on which regulator has the authority to oversee competition-related matters in the telecommunications industry.

PTA maintains that the Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Act, 1996, gives it a role in promoting fair competition among telecom operators. The ministry, however, has taken the position that competition enforcement falls outside PTA’s jurisdiction.

The legal dispute reached a significant point in November 2025, when the Islamabad High Court upheld CCP’s authority to investigate anti-competitive conduct and deceptive marketing in the telecom sector. The court distinguished CCP’s competition-law mandate from PTA’s technical, operational, and licensing responsibilities while recognizing that both regulators retain roles under their respective laws.

Repeated Draft Revisions Fail to Break Deadlock

Work on a dedicated telecom competition framework stretches back to amendments introduced in 2006. An earlier draft, titled the Pakistan Telecommunication Fair Competition Rules, was circulated in 2009 but was never finalized.

The latest effort began with a draft shared by the IT ministry on January 21, 2026. Following correspondence and consultations, the ministry forwarded an amended version on July 7, and PTA submitted its comments on July 27. The matter remains with the ministry.

Under Section 57 of the 1996 telecom law, the federal government has the authority to frame rules, while the Telecommunication Policy assigns responsibility for their development to the Ministry of IT.

The continuing delay creates uncertainty over the proposed rules governing competition in Pakistan’s telecom market, although existing competition legislation and the regulators’ established statutory powers remain in force.

With the Supreme Court appeal pending and the revised draft still awaiting finalization, no date has been announced for the notification of the Telecommunication Competition Rules, 2026.

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