ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday declared that the demand notices of Rs32 billion sent by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to 23 television channels to collect five per cent of their annual income from advertisements as a levy are illegal and unjustified.
The court accepted the petitions filed by the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) and TV channels against the Pemra notices. Pemra had issued the demand notices in March 2022, and the court had maintained a stay order on them until making a final decision in the case.
Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz issued a written decision on the applications of the PBA, the Independent Media Corporation and other TV channels. In the 29-page ruling, the court said that the collection of revenue prior to the Pemra Rules, 2009, is illegal and unauthorised.
The court noted that Pemra has failed to prove any reasonable and appropriate relationship between the amount collected as five percent tax on annual advertisement income and the expenses incurred in performing Pemra’s regulatory duties.
“Most of the expenses mentioned in the Pemra report could not be directly linked to the supervision or regulatory actions concerning licensed broadcasting entities. For a regulatory fee to be justified, it must be reasonably connected to the administrative or oversight framework under which licences are issued and regulated.”
The verdict stated that if the collected amount is only utilised for increasing revenue or for development projects that do not have a direct connection to the regulatory framework, such a fee loses its legal standing. “The basis presented for the collection of annual gross advertisement revenue is insufficient.”
