Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed all three telecom companies to follow a uniform policy on SIM expiry and prepaid balance after identifying that two operators were not following the prescribed terms.

The regulator took action after receiving complaints against Zong and Telenor Pakistan, which has since been acquired by PTCL. Subscribers said that their prepaid balance should remain valid as long as their SIM remained active.

A senior PTA official said that the companies were asking consumers to maintain a certain balance while their SIMs remain active, with the SIM eventually being cancelled if they fail to do so.

“The complaints were that these two companies demanded that consumers maintain a certain amount of balance even during the active period of the SIMs, failing which the SIMs were eventually cancelled. The other issue was that they did not carry over the balance amount after the next recharge,” the official said.

PTA has now ordered all telecom operators to provide a minimum validity of 180 days for any recharge or prepaid balance.

Under the decision, balance that expires during the SIM’s active life will automatically be restored and become usable when the subscriber makes another recharge, in line with Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations.

The regulator has also directed telecom companies not to engage in unfair commercial practices while implementing the decision, which will come into effect from October 1.
A Jazz official said a SIM remains active for 90 days followed by a 180-day quarantine period. After that, the SIM can be recycled and its ownership can be transferred.

Jazz also has a policy under which a SIM that remains dormant for up to 720 days is recycled.

“But after this period, a dormant SIM is allowed to be totally recycled, and the previous owner can no longer claim any rights over the recycled SIM,” the official added.

PTA said that it had received multiple complaints from subscribers over the loss of unused prepaid balance when its validity expired.

Subscribers had argued that the deduction of unused balance and its failure to carry over with subsequent recharges needed regulatory intervention.

The complaints also stated that losing the remaining balance placed a financial burden on subscribers, particularly those with lower incomes.

Around 97 percent of subscribers in Pakistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan use prepaid connections, according to the PTA.