Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Act, 1973

This 1973 act created the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), the state body that runs Radio Pakistan, as a separate corporate entity rather than a regular government department. Section 3 establishes the Corporation as a body corporate with perpetual existence that can own property and sue or be sued in its own name, and a newer Section 3A (added in 2024) brings PBC under the State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Act, 2023, meaning that where the two laws conflict on how the Corporation is governed, the 2023 SOE Act now takes priority.

Management sits with a Board described in Section 4 (substituted in 2024), made up of a Chairman appointed by the Federal Government, several ex-officio members -- including senior officials from the ministries/divisions concerned, foreign affairs, finance, ISPR and PTV -- plus the Director-General and nine independent members, with at least one from each province, Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Members serve three-year terms, renewable for at most two further terms. The Board must meet at least once a quarter (Section 7) and can remove independent members under Section 6 following the procedure in the SOE Act. Day-to-day running is handled by a Director-General (Section 8) who acts as chief executive, subject to Board oversight.

Section 10 lays out PBC's functions: providing 'Home Services' broadcasting across Pakistan and 'External Services' abroad, promoting Islamic ideology, national unity and democratic values, presenting news factually and impartially, and publishing related material. In carrying out its functions the Corporation must follow Federal Government policy directions, with the Government being the sole judge of what counts as a 'policy' question (Section 10(2)).

Section 12 deals with the historical transition of Radio Pakistan's staff into PBC employees, and Section 13 lists PBC's sources of income: government grants and subsidies, payments for services performed on the Government's behalf, licence fees collected under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and advertising revenue. Its accounts are audited under the Constitution's normal government-audit provisions (Section 16), and annual reports go to the Federal Government and are tabled in the National Assembly (Section 18).

Because this act has been substantially amended as recently as 2024 (notably the Board's composition and the link to the SOE Act), readers relying on details like Board membership, removal procedures or PBC's relationship to the 2023 SOE Act should check the current, consolidated text rather than assume older provisions still apply unchanged.