The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has recovered only 12.9 percent of Rs4.27 billion in penalties imposed on four cellular mobile operators over the last five years for non-compliance, while 58 cases remain sub judice.
According to official information, the PTA recovered Rs551.35 million against total penalties of Rs4.270 billion, while Rs537.75 million was pledged, and 58 cases were pending before courts. The authority also issued 22 warning letters during the period.
PTML (Ufone) faced the highest penalties of Rs1.873 billion through 31 show-cause notices, followed by Jazz World Pakistan with Rs1.401 billion through 27 notices, CMPak (Zong) with Rs590.95 million through 17 notices, and Telenor Pakistan with Rs404.95 million through 21 notices.
The PTA has also taken measures to address disruptions in cellular services caused by power outages, requiring operators to restore affected network sites and services within prescribed timelines and maintain adequate backup power arrangements to ensure continuity of telecom services.
The regulator monitors compliance with applicable quality-of-service requirements and takes up service interruptions with the concerned operators for corrective measures.
The PTA has coordinated with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), the Power Division and distribution companies through a joint task force constituted under the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication to mitigate the impact of power interruptions on telecom services.
The proposed measures include dedicated feeders, smart-grid solutions and appropriate tariff arrangements to improve the reliability of electricity supplies to telecom infrastructure.
Corrective measures also include redundant backhaul and connectivity arrangements, enhanced network resilience, improved restoration mechanisms and adequate backup power facilities to minimise service interruptions.
The PTA monitors implementation of these measures and, where necessary, conducts re-verification testing to assess whether identified deficiencies have been rectified.