The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed Zong to refund over Rs2 billion it improperly collected from customers and comply with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) directive.
Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb, presiding over the court, dismissed Zong’s appeal against the PTA order mandating the refund of Rs2.02 billion charged as service, maintenance, and operational fees between April 26, 2019, and July 12, 2019.
The court noted that cellular operators, including Zong, charged Rs10 as service/maintenance fees on every Rs100 prepaid card purchase. Justice Aurangzeb cited a Supreme Court ruling that deemed such charges “invalid and unlawful.”
The issue originated on March 5, 2018, when the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of public complaints about excessive taxes and service charges on prepaid card top-ups. An interim Supreme Court order on November 6, 2018, stated that service charges could not legally be imposed on amounts loaded by mobile users. This relief was later extended to post-paid subscribers.
The IHC order emphasized that telecom operators, including Zong, had informed the Supreme Court on March 27, 2019, that they had ceased collecting service charges and had no plans to reinstate them. However, in its response to the PTA on April 4, 2019, Zong argued it had not waived its right to impose such charges.
Following the Supreme Court’s directives, the PTA issued letters on July 8, 2019, asking telecom operators to disclose details of service charges collected after April 24, 2019. Zong failed to provide the required information, prompting the PTA to order a refund of the collected amount in the form of balance credits without validity restrictions.
The PTA warned Zong that failure to comply with its directive by September 13, 2019, would result in legal action. Instead of adhering to the order, Zong filed an appeal with the IHC on September 24, 2019.
The IHC has now declared Zong’s appeal “not maintainable,” upholding the PTA’s decision and instructing Zong to refund the improperly collected amount to its subscribers.
