The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) spokesperson said on Friday that its directive about discontinuing chat services did not include SMS and voice call “bundle” packages. A statement issued by the PTA said that the decision to ban chat services was not a new one and was in fact, a continuation of their earlier letter that was issued on November 14, 2012. The order did not pertain to text and call bundle packages, the spokesperson explained. The telecommunication authority said that the earlier decision was taken after listening to concerns about the “negative social effects of late night packages” from Supreme Court of Pakistan, Standing Committee of the Parliament, various Senators and members of national and provincial assembly. It added that the letter was only issued because some chat services were still being offered by cellular mobile operators. However, a telecommunication official said that they still thought the bundle packages would be discontinued, unless a new directive was issued clarifying that it wasn’t so, ProPakistani reported.
The official also said that “chat rooms” are not packages and should have been termed appropriately in the PTA directive.