A longstanding jurisdictional dispute between the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has delayed the finalisation of Telecommunication Competition Rules, 2026, according to documents presented during a briefing on a Senate question.
The documents state that the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication shared draft Telecommunication Competition Rules with PTA on January 21, 2026. Following several rounds of correspondence, the ministry sent an amended draft on July 7, to which PTA submitted its comments on July 27. The matter currently remains pending with the ministry.
The central issue concerns which institution has legal authority to regulate competition in the telecom sector. The Ministry of IT has maintained that PTA does not have jurisdiction over telecom competition matters, while PTA has defended its role by referring to the mandate and scope provided under the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996.
The Islamabad High Court recently ruled that the CCP has exclusive authority over competition-related matters. PTA has challenged the ruling before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, arguing that the authority has a competition-related mandate under the telecom law. The case remains pending before the apex court.
The federal government is responsible for framing the rules under Section 57 of the telecom law, while Clause 5.1.2 of the Telecommunication Policy assigns their development to the Ministry of IT. Work on the rules dates back to amendments made in 2006, while an earlier draft titled the Pakistan Telecommunication Fair Competition Rules was circulated in 2009, but a final framework has yet to be notified.
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