Govt withdraws controversial telecom draft bill amid criticism

ISLAMABAD: The government withdrew proposed telecommunications legislation on Friday that would have given operators broad authority to access private and public land after facing fierce opposition over property rights concerns.

The government announced that it would introduce a new draft of the proposed legislation.

Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry formally withdrew the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Amendment Bill 2026 in the Senate on behalf of Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja.

The withdrawal came as the bill approached its mandatory 90-day deadline for Senate approval, which would have triggered a requirement for a joint parliamentary session.

“Upon expiry of the prescribed period, the bill would have proceeded to a joint sitting of Parliament, the convening of which may not take place in the near future,” the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication said in a statement.

The ministry added that it will introduce a new bill to expedite the legislative process while “retaining the essence of the proposed legislation.”

The original draft aimed to update a 1996 law to clear right-of-way bottlenecks for expanding 5G networks and nationwide fiber-optic cables.

Telecom operators had heavily lobbied for the changes, citing prolonged delays in securing no-objection certificates from provincial authorities, cantonment boards, and private real estate developments.

However, key provisions in the proposed update sparked intense controversy. The draft stipulated that access requests to public land or organised private developments — such as housing societies and commercial estates — would be deemed automatically approved if authorities or managers failed to respond within 30 days.

It also banned public authorities and organized private developments from levying fees, rents, or access charges on operators, while establishing fines of up to 50 million rupees ($179,000) for entities that obstructed infrastructure work.

Legal experts, digital rights groups, and the Islamabad Bar Association condemned the measures, alleging they violated constitutional protections on private property and allowed forced entry onto premises.

Opposition parties and key coalition partners, including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), refused to support the measure, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to order a ministerial review.

Government officials said that the upcoming draft will keep right-of-way provisions for public land but will make explicit prior consent mandatory for private property installations.

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