PTA Allows Annual Import of 5 Mobile Phones for Personal Use

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has issued the ‘Type Approval Technical Standards Regulations 2021’, which allows a person to import only five mobile devices for personal use in a calendar year.

The foreign missions, including the high commissions and embassies, will file their Certificate of Compliance requests for the import of telecommunication equipment through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, they will have to apply for type approval for terminal equipment after providing the required documents/sample/fee to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

Furthermore, IMEI for devices will contain only GSMA-issued Type Allocation Code (TAC) excluding those blacklisted by the PTA.

Duplicated, cloned, stolen, and counterfeit mobile devices will not be valid for the issuance of the Certificate of Compliance (COC) by the PTA. It also has the right to either cancel or suspend the COC issued in case the product being imported or sold is found to have manufacturing faults, is hazardous to health or safety, and does not conform to the standards stated at the time of the granting of the COC.

According to the Type Approval Technical Standards Regulations, all type approval holders and persons importing PTA type approved terminal equipment and mobile devices for sale and marketing in Pakistan are to ensure that they will establish a customer service or after-sales mechanism for the facilitation of their customers, and obtain the COC for parts imported for after-sales provision through the PTA.

For devices operating in the VHF frequency bands, a type approval holder will ensure that the equipment is sold to PTA license holders, and that the devices are programmed within the allocated frequency band only as per license conditions.

Furthermore, a monthly report for the sale of such devices, along with the end-user and the PTA license details will be provided to the PTA. For devices operating in the HF and the UHF frequencies band, type approval will be granted, subject to the provision of the PTA issued license, and the devices will be programmed within the allocated frequencies band and output power as per the conditions of the license.

Equipment for maritime functionality requires authorization from a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency and a PTA-issued license.

In case of the applicant being a foreign entity, they are to provide the following documents as part of the type approval process issued from their country of origin:

1. company registration;
2. authorization from the board of directors to apply for PTA type-approval;
3. shareholder details of the board of directors of the manufacturer of the devices.

All the terminal equipment with wireless functionality is to operate on a non-interference basis within the allowed frequency spectrum allowed by the PTA/FAB.

The PTA may issue duplicate type approval certificates, subject to:

• The provision of request on a type approval holder company letterhead;
• The provision of an undertaking stating the reasons for the requirement of duplicate certificates;
• The deposit of the prescribed processing fee;
• A copy of the intimation to the PTA of the lost/misplaced original certificate;
• A copy of the already issued type approval certificate.