PTA Successfully Organizes Consumer Conference 2022 in Islamabad

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) organized Consumer Conference 2022 with the theme “Consumers First” today. Head of the Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms, Mr. Salman Sufi was the chief guest on this occasion. CEO USF Pakistan, representatives of the IT & telecom industry, consumer rights groups, and the public also attended the event.

Remarks from Head of PM Strategic Reforms

Joining the event virtually, the Head of PM Strategic Reforms started his speech by congratulating Chairman PTA and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), for arranging this vital conference, which is, he believed, the first of many to include consumer feedback and especially the issues that consumers are facing in today’s ever changing world. . Furthermore, he said that I’m glad to see all of you here, and especially the colleagues from government and telcos who have given special time to attend this very important event. He added that Prime Minister of Pakistan is fully committed to empowering PTA and especially our consumers in today’s world. He said that it is very important that we must realize that consumer in today’s world and see them as equal stakeholders whose voices must be heard. Furthermore, he added,

“Since I resumed office, I had multiple meetings with the Honorary Chairman, BTA, and we were able to come up with some very extraordinary reforms which are already in progress and some have already been implemented. And these reforms reflect the vision of the Prime Minister, which is to empower the telcos, and PTA. Consumers are the backbone of everything that we are today, we will speak about today and also make sure that consumer rights are being protected. As I speak to you today from the US, I’m glad to report that we are actively working on bringing one of the major digital payment systems to Pakistan, and we will be announcing some significant positive developments that we have made in the recent past. And with that announcement, it will bring a new change in Pakistan, how digital payments are processed, and how we can empower citizens even further, especially in ecommerce, which is the backbone of our economy today.”

Speech by Chairman PTA

Addressing the conference, Chairman PTA, Maj. General Amir Azeem Bajwa (R) said that PTA is cognizant of telecom consumers’ needs and is taking every step to facilitate them in resolving their issues. He said that organizing this consumer conference is yet another serious effort by PTA to take consumer feedback directly from the public. Moreover, PTA is working on improving consumer satisfaction level against the resolution of their problems.

Speaking at the occasion, Member (Compliance & Enforcement) PTA, Dr. Khawar Sidique Khokhar highlighted that PTA, being a progressive regulator with reconciliatory approach, has improved consumer experience and facilitated industry progress.

Presentation Given By CEO USF, DG CPD & DG Enforcement PTA:

Presentations were also given during the conference. CEO USF Pakistan, Mr. Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary apprised the audience about USF projects and highlighted USF’s efforts in eliminating digital disparities in urban and rural areas. . DG CPD, Mr. Abdul Samad and DG Enforcement, Brig. Muhammad Shuaib from PTA gave an overview on consumer complaints received to PTA and initiatives undertaken with regards to Quality of Service, illegal SIMs etc, respectively.  Representatives from Jazz and PTCL gave an overview on the current telecom industry landscape and initiatives undertaken to provide quality service, respectively

Suggestions Offered by Representatives of CAP & CRCP:

Representatives from Consumer rights groups – Mian Irfan Akram, Punjab Chairman Consumer Association of Pakistan (CAP), and Mr. Kamal Zada, Program Coordinator, Consumer Rights Commission of Pak (CRCP) appreciated PTA for its focus on consumer issues and expressed hope that PTA and telecom industry will resolve core problems, such as quality of service, faced by users.

A live question-and-answer session was also held with the audience which included members of the public.

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