As per recent news, due to a delay in paying license renewal payments, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has recently ordered Jazz and Telenor Pakistan to pay a late payment fee of $60.792 million, or $30.54 million each, as an extra fee.
Further, both operators are required to pay the unpaid dues within seven (07) days of receiving the order, and in the event of non-compliance with the order, the situation will be handled according to applicable legislation without further notice.
The case of late payment was heard by a panel consisting of PTA Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa, Member Compliance and Enforcement Dr. Khawaja Siddiqui Khokhar, and Member Finance Muhammad Naveed, who issued orders against the two operators.
For those unfamiliar with the situation, both Jazz and Telenor had challenged the new cost structure for licences and had taken the matter to court to resolve the conflict.
Both carriers’ cellular licences were expected to expire in May 2019, and the PTA set the renewal fee at $449 million.