Islamabad – A government audit has raised alarm over Pakistan’s largest telecom operator, Jazz, accusing it of overbilling customers by Rs6.58 billion during 2023-24.
According to the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP), Jazz charged users above the tariff rates approved by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), breaching regulatory limits.
The audit report stated: “A comparative analysis of selected weekly and monthly packages revealed Jazz overcharged consumers by Rs6,583,690,860 in FY 2023-24.” It further criticized PTA for “poor regulatory oversight” in monitoring telecom pricing.
PTA had allowed Jazz to raise prices by up to 15 percent per quarter and reduce bundle incentives by 5 percent through official letters issued in February and August 2024. However, the report claims Jazz exceeded this allowance, increasing package costs without adequate justification.
The excess billing spanned nine major packages, with the Monthly Super Duper plan alone overcharging users Rs722 million. Other bundles such as Monthly Freedom, Weekly Super Plus, Monthly Max, and Weekly YourTube & Social Offer also collected billions in excess from customers.
Despite directives from the Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) for PTA to submit complete approval records, the report noted: “PTA did not provide the requisite documentation until the finalization of this audit.”
The AGP has now recommended a formal inquiry and strict accountability of those involved.
As of now, Jazz has not commented on the audit findings.