KARACHI: Pakistan has constituted a specialized tribunal to resolve legal disputes related to the country’s telecom sector “much faster,” Caretaker Information Technology (IT) Minister Dr. Umar Saif confirmed on Wednesday. 

The tribunal will deal with appeals that arise out of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in the exercise of its powers. The Telecommunication Appellate Tribunal will feature technical experts who will give their decision on appeals filed by aggrieved parties holistically and speedily, as per the draft bill of the ordinance for the tribunal. 

The tribunal would help lessen the burden of Pakistani high courts in the adjudication of technical matters, the statement of objects and reasons of the draft bill said. 

“Telecom sector disputes and cases will now be handled by a specialized tribunal, instead of high courts,” Saif wrote on social media platform X. “This will help resolve legal issues much faster and help us move this sector forward rapidly.” 

Pakistan and UAE telecommunications company Etisalat are also locked in a dispute that dates back over a decade involving a pending $800 million bill from the privatization of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). 

An Etisalat consortium bought 26 percent stakes in PTCL for $2.6 billion in 2005 which gave the Emirati telecom giant majority voting rights. The UAE operator owned 90 percent of the acquiring consortium, giving it a 23.4 percent share in PTCL. 

Etisalat paid an initial $1.80 billion as per the deal, which also included transferring ownership of the properties to PTCL from the government. It was due to pay the remaining $800 million in six twice-yearly installments of $133 million, however, the UAE telecom giant withheld the payment due to the dispute over the mutation of some 34 out of 3,500 properties destined for PTCL. 

Pakistani officials have said in the past that the remaining properties could not be handed over due to ownership complications and the value of these properties would be deducted from the amount Etisalat owes. The dispute remains unresolved since 2005. 

In response to a question about the resolution of the dispute with Etisalat, Saif, in October 2023, told Arab News the government would establish a telecom tribunal to resolve disputes and cases suffering from court delays.