Sherry says PPP opposes telecom bill over ‘draconian clauses’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Sherry Rehman said on Monday that her party would not allow any legislation concerning the information technology sector, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority or right of way provisions to pass through the Senate unless it undergoes detailed scrutiny by the relevant standing committee and is amended accordingly.

In a post on X, Rehman set out the party’s position on the proposed law, saying the PPP in the upper house would not support any such bill unless it was fully examined by the Senate Standing Committee and the party’s proposed deletions were reflected in the final text.

"For the record, PPP in the Senate will not be passing ANY IT/PTA/RWA legislation which is not thoroughly discussed threadbare in the Standing Committee of Senate with our deletions assured in the final bill," Sherry said in a post on X.

The National Assembly passed the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026 on June 11. Rehman said the bill, after being sent to the Senate, had been halted there because it still included provisions the PPP had repeatedly sought to remove. She specifically pointed to Section 27A, which deals with rights of way for telecommunications infrastructure.

Objections over right-of-way provisions

According to Rehman, the Senate Standing Committee on IT and Telecom has reviewed the bill and deferred further consideration so that it can be examined clause by clause. She also raised objections to Section 27B, saying the provision allows the government to impose penalties of up to Rs50 million for obstructing or delaying the grant of right of way for telecom infrastructure.

Rehman said PPP lawmakers in the National Assembly had been told that the contentious clauses had been removed before the bill was passed in the lower house. She wrote that although some objectionable provisions were deleted, others remained in the version that was transmitted to the Senate.

"Our NA members were told these have been removed when the bill was moved there," she wrote, adding that while some objectionable provisions had been deleted, "all were still not deleted when the bill was transmitted to us in the Upper House".

Her statement indicates the PPP plans to press for changes in the Senate before any further progress on the legislation, with the party linking its support to committee-level scrutiny and removal of the clauses it considers problematic.