PEMRA fails to recover Rs 87.53 million in fees and fines, audit exposes financial mismanagement  

Serious financial and administrative lapses have been identified in the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA),

Islamabad:  Serious financial and administrative lapses have been identified in the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Islamabad, after an official audit revealed that the authority failed to recover Rs 87.53 million in outstanding licence fees, other charges and fines, raising questions about its financial management and failure to enforce recovery laws.

According to the Audit Report on the Accounts of the Federal Government (Civil) for Audit Year 2025 to 2026, PEMRA had outstanding recoverable dues amounting to Rs 87,535,339 as of June 30, 2025.

The audit observed that the authority’s management failed to recover these dues despite having legal powers to collect unpaid fees and penalties from television and radio operators.

The auditors termed the failure a lapse on the part of management, stating that it had deprived the authority of revenue that was legally due.

More importantly, the report revealed that PEMRA management had not submitted any response to the audit observations by the time the report was finalized, leaving the concerns over the outstanding amount unanswered in the official audit record.

According to the financial details presented in the report, the largest amount of outstanding revenue was linked to cable television operators.

The audit found that Rs 59,885,339 remained recoverable from cable TV operators, representing the biggest share of PEMRA’s unpaid dues.

Another Rs 17,920,000 was outstanding from satellite television operators, while FM radio operators owed Rs 2,330,000.

Together, these three categories accounted for Rs 80,135,339 in outstanding fees and other charges.

In addition, the authority had failed to recover Rs 7,400,000 in penalties and fines imposed under its regulatory powers.

The combined amount of outstanding fees and penalties reached Rs 87,535,339, placing PEMRA’s revenue recovery arrangements under scrutiny.

The audit report pointed out that PEMRA was legally empowered to recover outstanding amounts under the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Act, 2023.

Under Section 29B of the amended law, outstanding licence fees, annual renewal fees, other charges and fines imposed by PEMRA can be recovered as arrears of land revenue.

This legal provision gives the authority a formal mechanism to pursue unpaid amounts rather than allowing them to remain outstanding without effective recovery action.

However, the auditors observed that PEMRA management had failed to recover the dues in violation of the relevant provisions of the amended law.

The report also referred to Section 36A of the PEMRA (Amendment) Act, 2023, which requires penalties and fines recovered by the authority to be deposited into the Federal Consolidated Fund.

The Federal Consolidated Fund is the government’s main account where public revenue is deposited and used according to the law.

The audit findings have therefore raised concerns about the authority’s failure to collect money that was due under its regulatory system.

The auditors noted that the non collection of outstanding fees and fines represented a management lapse that deprived PEMRA of its due receipts.

The findings also raised questions about the effectiveness of PEMRA’s internal recovery system, particularly its ability to collect outstanding payments from regulated broadcasters and other licence holders.

PEMRA is responsible for regulating electronic media services in Pakistan, including cable television, satellite television and FM radio broadcasting.

Nevertheless, the auditors concluded that the authority had failed to collect revenue that was legally recoverable, highlighting weaknesses in financial oversight and regulatory enforcement.