November 2, 2026. Pakistan regulates sales calls through the PTA's spam regulations of 2009, as amended in 2020 and again by a second amendment in force from its Gazette publication on 31 December 2022. That amendment defines a telemarketer as a person authorized by the PTA, requires operators to ensure telemarketers are registered, and treats marketing to people who have not consented and are on the central Do Not Call Register, which subscribers join through the short code 3627, as unsolicited. Operators may carry robocalls only for public awareness. On our reading, PECA's spam offence can also reach a sales call: unsolicited spam is fined up to Rs 50,000 the first time and up to Rs 1,000,000 for each later violation.
Key numbers
| Item | Number |
|---|---|
| Short code to join the central Do Not Call Register (register or unregister) | 3627 |
| Second amendment in force from Gazette publication (notified 22 December 2022) | 31 December 2022 |
| Operator deadline to update the register (2009 regulation 9(3)) | two working days |
| Earliest withdrawal of a register request (2009 regulation 9(4)) | 30 days |
| Warning to a harassing caller after a complaint (suspension within 24 hours on a repeat) | within 24 hours |
| PECA s.25 fine, first unsolicited violation | up to Rs 50,000 |
| PECA s.25 fine, each later violation | Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,000,000 |
| PECA s.25, harmful or misleading content (or up to three months in prison, or both) | Rs 50,000 to Rs 5,000,000 |
| PECA s.26 spoofing (or up to three years, or both) | up to Rs 500,000 |
PTA regulations (2009, 2020 and 2022 Gazette texts on pta.gov.pk) and PECA 2016 as consolidated to 2025, read on 2 November 2026.
What the PTA regulations require
The Protection from Spam, Unsolicited, Fraudulent and Obnoxious Communication Regulations, 2009 apply to telecom operators, and the 2022 second amendment also places duties on telemarketers, such as keeping consent records. The main rules now read:
- Telemarketers are authorized and registered. A telemarketer is "a natural and juristic person who is authorized by the Authority" to send marketing messages or calls "directly or through a third party", and all operators "shall ... ensure registration of Telemarketers".
- One central register, through 3627. Operators keep a central Do Not Call Register (C-DNCR) and let subscribers register or unregister through the short code 3627. Unsolicited communication is marketing sent "to persons who have not provided consent" and whose particulars "are recorded in the C-DNCR". Under the 2009 text, which the amendments left in place on this point, operators update the register within two working days, and a subscriber can withdraw a request after at least 30 days.
- Consent by message, on record. Telemarketers sending through SMS aggregators must seek individual consent by message in English and Urdu before marketing, and a telemarketer "shall be responsible to keep record of individual consent in case of any dispute". Marketing messages go out through approved short codes or alphanumeric IDs under service agreements with aggregators or operators.
- Opt-in still means opt-out. Even after someone opts in to promotional messages, the sender must offer a way to unsubscribe, and operators must ensure those messages reach subscribers within normal business hours.
- Robocalls only for public awareness. The amendment defines a robocall as a call that "uses a computerized system to deliver a pre-recorded public awareness message", and operators may carry robocalls "only for the purpose of public awareness" required by the PTA or the government.
- Harassment leads to blocking. For "obnoxious communication", meaning calls or messages meant to cause harassment or disturbance, operators issue a warning within 24 hours of a complaint (2020 amendment), suspend the originator within 24 hours of a repeat complaint, and block the line permanently if it happens again after restoration.
Where PECA comes in
The 2022 amendment takes its definition of spamming from section 25 of PECA 2016, and the regulations define information to include voice. Section 25 makes it an offence when a person "with intent transmits" harmful, fraudulent, misleading, illegal or unsolicited information "to any person without permission of the recipient", and it requires anyone in direct marketing to offer an unsubscribe option. Unsolicited spam, or marketing without that option, is fined up to Rs 50,000 the first time and Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,000,000 for each later violation; harmful, fraudulent, misleading or illegal content carries up to three months in prison, a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5,000,000, or both. Section 26 makes it an offence to send information with a counterfeit source with dishonest intention, punishable by up to three years, up to Rs 500,000, or both. We read these sections as able to reach a sales call; we did not find a published PTA enforcement notice on telemarketing calls when we checked.
What it means for businesses
- Ask your carrier first. Before marketing to Pakistani numbers, ask how its telemarketer registration works.
- Record consent per person. The rules put the record on the telemarketer, so store when, how and for what each person agreed.
- Treat AI calling as telemarketing. The robocall definition covers pre-recorded messages, and we found no provision on live AI agents. We would run AI voice agents on inbound calls, callbacks and opted-in lists, not as a cold dialer.
- Keep the opt-out working in every channel.
- Never present a false caller ID. Section 26 covers a counterfeit source sent with dishonest intention.
For AI calls designed this way, see AI calling built around consent and our AI call answering agent for inbound demand; compare vendors in the AI voice agents comparison and the AI answering service for HVAC example. For email, read cold email laws in Pakistan; compare India, the UAE, South Africa's POPIA calling rules and the cold calling laws by country table. This is general information, not legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, within the PTA's system. Under the spam regulations as amended in December 2022, a telemarketer is a person authorized by the PTA, operators must ensure telemarketers are registered, and marketing to people who have not consented and are on the central Do Not Call Register is unsolicited. On our reading, PECA section 25 can also apply, with fines up to Rs 50,000 for a first unsolicited violation and up to Rs 1,000,000 for each later one.
The 2022 amendment tells operators to let subscribers register or unregister on the central Do Not Call Register through the short code 3627. Under the 2009 regulations, operators must update the register within two working days of a request. Harassing calls can be reported to your operator, which must issue a warning within 24 hours of the complaint.
Robocalls, defined as computerized calls that deliver a pre-recorded public awareness message, may be carried by operators only for public awareness required by the PTA or the government. We found no provision on live AI agents, so we would treat them as telemarketing, run by a PTA-authorized telemarketer with the person's consent.
On our reading, PECA section 25 can reach sales calls. It fines unsolicited spam, or direct marketing without an unsubscribe option, up to Rs 50,000 the first time and Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,000,000 for each later violation, while harmful, fraudulent, misleading or illegal content carries up to three months in prison, a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5,000,000, or both. Operators can also suspend or permanently block a harassing line.