ISLAMABAD – Zong has initiated a nationwide refund process for its users after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the telecom operator to return over Rs2 billion – the amount that wrongly charged in 2019.
Reports said Zong has started crediting varying amounts back into customer accounts. These refunds stem from charges labeled as “operational and service charges” that were deducted over a four-month period in 2019 without proper justification.
The amount refunded differs from user to user based on their mobile usage during that time. Some customers have received small credits of around Rs 20, while others have seen refunds running into several thousand rupees.
In December 2024, telecom giant Zong lost its appeal, as Islamabad High Court ordered the company to refund Rs2 billion to affected customers.
IHC had upheld the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) ruling, which required telecom operators to return charges collected for service, maintenance, and operational fees between April 26, 2019, and July 12, 2019.
The case stemmed from the telecom industry’s malpractice of imposing a Rs 10 service fee on every recharge of Rs 100 by card. In the court verdict, IHC judge Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb mentioned a Supreme Court ruling that declared such charges on prepaid mobile cards to be illegal.
SC had issued an interim order invalidating the service charges on prepaid cards, which was later extended to post-paid users in March 2018, amid plethora of complaints about excessive charges.
