Pakistan’s telecom competition rules have been missing for a decade, held hostage by a bitter fight between two government bodies over who gets to write them. The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) says it has the authority. The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) disagrees. The result is that Pakistan’s telecom market, one of the biggest in Asia, still has no dedicated competition framework in place.
Why the Telecom Competition Rules Have Been Blocked
The principal obstacle is a disagreement over which institution has the legal authority to frame the competition rules governing Pakistan’s telecom sector. This is not a new fight. The telecom competition rules, intended to provide a dedicated competition framework for one of Pakistan’s most economically significant sectors, have spent a decade cycling through consultations, revisions, legal vettings, and inter-institutional meetings, and none of it has produced a final set of rules.
According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Section 57 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act empowers the federal government to frame rules, and Clause 5.1.2 of the Telecom Policy 2015 assigns the Ministry of IT the responsibility of preparing the Telecom Competition Rules. PTA submitted its first draft to the ministry all the way back in 2016.
However, the CCP has maintained that the Ministry of IT does not have the legal mandate to frame competition rules, arguing that competition regulation falls under its own jurisdiction. This disagreement between the two institutions has effectively stalled the rules.
A Timeline of Delays on the Telecom Competition Rules
The back-and-forth has gone on for years with no end in sight. Here is a quick look at where things stand:
- 2016: PTA submitted its initial draft to the ministry.
- 2017-2018: MoITT conducted public consultations.
- 2022: PTA submitted an updated draft to push things forward.
- January 2026: The Ministry of IT shared a fresh draft of the Telecommunication Competition Rules with PTA.
- July 7, 2026: The ministry shared another revised draft.
- July 27, 2026: PTA submitted its latest feedback, and the rules remain unfinished.
The matter currently remains pending with the ministry. It is a cycle that has repeated itself for ten years with little to show for it.
The Court Sided With CCP, But the Fight Moved to the Supreme Court
The dispute eventually reached the courts. In a detailed judgment issued on November 1, 2025, the Islamabad High Court upheld the CCP’s jurisdiction over competition and deceptive marketing matters in the telecom sector.
The court held that the CCP possesses “overarching jurisdiction across all sectors of the economy, including telecommunications,” and that the Competition Act, 2010, and the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996, operate in “distinct yet complementary domains.”
While PTA regulates technical and operational aspects of the telecom sector, the court ruled that the CCP has the statutory mandate to prevent and prohibit anti-competitive conduct, abuse of dominance, collusive arrangements, and deceptive marketing.
The ruling seemed to settle the argument. It did not. PTA challenged the judgment before the Supreme Court, and the appeal remains pending, leaving the dispute unresolved at the highest judicial level. This is the part of the story that most coverage has glossed over: a court already gave an answer, but the institutional standoff simply moved to a higher court.
The Competition Commission of Pakistan and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority both have mandates that touch telecom markets, and until the Supreme Court resolves the appeal, neither side is likely to back down fully.
What This Means for Pakistan’s Telecom Market
Pakistan’s telecom competition rules have been stuck in a jurisdictional dispute between the IT Ministry and the Competition Commission for ten years, and the rules remain unfinished even as the country’s telecom market undergoes its most significant consolidation in history and prepares to deploy 5G infrastructure on spectrum auctioned earlier this year.
In such an environment, competition regulation is not a bureaucratic formality; it is the primary safeguard against pricing collusion, service degradation, and the marginalisation of consumers who have no alternative provider to turn to.
Pakistan’s telecom sector is going through big changes right now. A massive investment pledge is already on the table. As covered in our report on VEON’s $1.5 billion investment plan for Pakistan, foreign capital is flowing in. Without clear telecom competition rules, operators face legal uncertainty, and new investors cannot be sure how anti-competitive conduct will be handled. That could slow down both spending and market reform at exactly the wrong time.
The Senate has also grown impatient. Pakistan’s telecom competition rules have been missing for 30 years, and the Senate IT Committee gave the IT Ministry one month to finally produce a draft. Whether that deadline was met in full is yet to be confirmed publicly, but the fact that the Senate had to intervene shows how serious the gap has become.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Pakistan’s telecom competition rules?
They are a set of rules meant to govern fair competition in Pakistan’s telecom sector, covering things like pricing practices, market dominance, and anti-competitive behaviour. The rules were conceived in the Telecom Policy 2015 and first drafted in 2016, but have never been finalised.
Why have the rules been delayed for so long?
Two institutions cannot agree on which of them has the legal authority to frame the rules. MoITT says it is responsible. CCP says competition rules fall under its own mandate. That disagreement has dragged on for ten years.
Has a court decided who is right?
Yes, but the fight continues. On November 1, 2025, the Islamabad High Court delivered a ruling backing the CCP. However, PTA challenged that judgment before the Supreme Court, and the appeal remains pending.
What happens to Pakistani telecom users if this is not resolved?
Without a proper competition framework, there is no dedicated mechanism to check price collusion, abuse of market dominance, or anti-consumer practices in the telecom sector. It also creates legal uncertainty that can discourage foreign investment and slow down 5G rollout in Pakistan.
