PTA Takes Action Against Illegal Provisioning Of Internet Services

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in collaboration with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), conducted a raid against an illegal internet service provider situated on Walton Road, Lahore in the action of a determined effort to stop the proliferation of illegal providers.

During the operation, illegal activity of operational internet setup was discovered, it was operating without a legal license. As a result, three main officials were detained and 30 Optical Network Terminals (ONTs), one router, and one server were arrested. FIA has sealed the premises, and FIA will conduct a further legal investigation related to the matter.

The action taken by PTA is an achievement to combat illegal internet services offered by illegal providers. Indeed, it shows the vigilance, steadfast commitment and persistent endeavours of the PTA and how much the department is concerned about illegal activities.

Such actions play a vital role in reducing tax fraud, and revenue misreporting which will help in reducing losses to the national treasury.

PTA is constantly trying to improve its services and in this regard, PTA in collaboration with FIA conducted multiple raids in the past. The objective is to eliminate the rampant proliferation of illegal service providers. Recently, in May 2023, PTA conducted two raids at Muslim Town and Multan Road in Lahore, and the equipment of illegal ISPs was confiscated. As a result, enforcement action was taken in Rawalpindi, leading to the identification and blocking of internet services that were still operating after license termination.

The continuous effort made by the PTA will help to improve its services and will also reduce the digital crime rate. Such actions are very necessary to combat cyber attacks and illegal services.

The public is requested to only avail of Telecommunication services from PTA-approved and licensed operators to avoid any kind of disruption of services.

A list of licensed and authorised operators is available at:

https://pta.gov.pk/en/industry-support/home/list-of-operators 

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