The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has defended Jazz against an audit finding that it overcharged customers by Rs 6.58 billion, telling the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication that the claim was misinterpreted. The regulator stated outright that the tariff changes had received the required regulatory approval, pushing back directly on the Auditor General of Pakistan’s (AGP) report for fiscal year 2023-24, which had accused Jazz of billing subscribers above PTA-approved rates across several mobile packages and criticized the regulator itself for weak oversight. This marks PTA’s most detailed explanation yet of the discrepancy since the audit report first surfaced back in August, when both PTA and Jazz issued general denials without addressing the specific mechanics of how the figure emerged.
PTA said an earlier approval dated February 2024 was given to allow a 15 percent tariff increase, but the audit interpreted it as a 3 percent increase. The authority attributed the confusion to a signature meant for attestation purposes, offering the Senate committee a concrete, documentary explanation for the gap between what auditors calculated and what PTA maintains it actually approved. This detail addresses one of the central questions raised since the AGP report first alleged that Jazz’s billing practices violated the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act, 1996, and the Telecom Consumer Protection Regulations, 2009, which require operators to charge only rates formally approved by PTA.
PTA said it had provided the Auditor General’s office with the relevant approval notices, tariff records, and system-generated audit trails, adding that the records had been verified and certified copies were also submitted for examination. The regulator further explained that it has the authority to approve tariff ceilings and revisions for operators, reiterating a point it has made since August when it first rejected claims of overcharging and denied submitting any special report to the Prime Minister’s Office regarding the audit findings. PTA maintained that the Rs 6.58 billion figure does not represent unauthorized overcharging and that the record supports the tariff approvals issued at the time, directly contesting the audit’s central conclusion rather than offering a partial or qualified defense.
The Senate committee has also sought the relevant records to examine the competing positions of the audit authorities and PTA, signaling that lawmakers are not simply accepting the regulator’s explanation at face value despite the detailed attestation-signature account provided. This dispute forms just one item within the committee’s broader agenda covering telecom sector issues, alongside separate scrutiny of Ufone’s rebranding, Starlink’s launch, and Etisalat’s outstanding dues, reflecting a period of unusually intense parliamentary attention on PTA’s regulatory conduct across multiple fronts simultaneously. Whether the committee ultimately accepts PTA’s explanation or pushes for the independent inquiry the AGP report originally recommended will likely depend on how the records submitted by both PTA and the audit authorities compare once lawmakers review them directly.
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