PTML challenges PTA order to suspend ONIC operations

Pakistan Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) has challenged a Pakistan Telecommunication Authority order to halt ONIC's commercial operations in court, Business Recorder reported. The regulator instructed the company to stop new sales, activations, SIM and eSIM issuance, subscriptions and marketing for the digital service, ruling that it falls under the MVNO framework. Under the order, PTML has three months only to move current ONIC customers to its own network and must file a compliance report within seven working days.

The PTA held that ONIC, though a registered PTML brand using the company's network, spectrum and numbering, operates with customised packages, separate CRM and billing systems and dedicated platforms. It also pointed to DTMS, a separate entity handling marketing, customer acquisition, KYC, SIM logistics and sales, and to a build-operate agreement giving DTMS 55 percent of relevant revenue in the first three years. The regulator concluded that owning the brand and licensed network was not enough to establish compliance.

PTML contests the ruling in court, disputing both the regulator's view of ONIC's structure and the use of the MVNO framework. PTML had argued that the DTMS deal was an outsourcing arrangement. The case began in June 2023 when PTML notified the PTA of its plan to launch ONIC in five cities, and the Islamabad High Court sent the matter back to the regulator in February 2026.