ISLAMABAD(National Times)- The telecom sector regulator has directed all three telcos to implement a uniform policy on SIM expiry and recharge amounts, after finding that two telcos were not complying with the prescribed terms and conditions.

A senior Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) official said consumers had lodged complaints against Zong and Telenor Pakistan, which has now been acquired by PTCL. The complainants had demanded that prepaid balance should remain valid for the entire active life of the SIM.

“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 added.

Zong and the merged company, Ufone/Telenor, did not respond to the query; however, a Jazz official said the active base of a SIM is 90 days, with 180 days as a quarantine period.

Orders companies to implement 180-day minimum balance validity policy

“After that, the recycling of the SIM is allowed — that means the ownership of the SIM can be changed,” the official added.

The official added that Jazz has a recycling policy under which any 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.

The determination issued by the PTA directed all telcos to implement a minimum validity period of 180 days for any recharge/balance amount.

The PTA has said any expired balance will automatically be reinstated and become usable upon a subsequent recharge during the active life of the SIM, as per the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations.

Telecom companies will not engage in any unfair commercial practices when implementing this decision, which will take effect on Oct 1.

The PTA had received multiple complaints from subscribers regarding the forfeiture of unused prepaid balances upon expiry of validity periods.

The complainants had said that such deduction and non-adjustment of the balance to subsequent recharges required intervention by the regulator.

The complaint lodged with the PTA was that the non-adjustment of the remaining balance significantly impacts the average subscriber financially, particularly low-income subscribers.

The PTA has noted that around 97 per cent of subscribers in Pakistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan are prepaid users.