Any applicant who wants to register a domain name under .PK must read and agree to the PKNIC policy posted here. The PKNIC policy for the domain names is subject to enhancements and modifications driven by the PKNIC Policy Group, that seeks to devise .PK policies that are equitable and fair to all affected Internet stakeholders, including PKNIC. The PKNIC Policy Group is comprised of the members and observers from the Internet Community and those with vested interest towards the betterment of the Internet stakeholders for .PK domains.

Background

Exclusions and Overriding principle

PKNIC - Internet Domain Registration Policy
Policy Version 4.4 rev 2019-08-19

The applicant who wants to register a domain name under .PK is presumed to have read and agreed to this PKNIC Internet Domain Registration Policy, stated below and any subsequent changes as and when placed on the PKNIC website. Applicants and owners of the Domain Names are responsible to read the updates on the PKNIC website frequently and deemed to have notice of any subsequent changes which the applicant hereby agrees to.

1. The registration of a domain name is a listing service. The listing service of names within the .PK delegated name space is undertaken on a discretionary First Come - First Served basis, moderated by the .PK domain's administration policies as determined by the delegated authority (PKNIC) with the exception of any applications/cases for registration that attempt to register a domain name that:
   1. infringes upon a registered tradename,
   2. is not bona fide as recognized by international best practice,
   3. is a contravention in the opinion of PKNIC to be a contravention of the latest version of the Pakistan Penal Code Act, 1860 (including offences of defamation & blasphemy)/ Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997/any applicable criminal law,
   4. has been declared by a Criminal Court of appropriate jurisdiction to have contravened the latest version of Pakistan Penal Code Act, 1860 (including offences of defamation & blasphemy)/Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997/any applicable criminal law), or
   5. in the opinion of PKNIC is not appropriate for registration.
2. Notwithstanding anything stated herein or elsewhere, the applicant, by its conduct of submitting its application for registration, payment of fee and/or the use of the domain name, hereby agrees to be bound by the following:
   I, the applicant/registrant, hereby agree that any controversy, claim or dispute arising out of, relating to or in connection with my application to register, my registration of, or my use or misuse of a “.pk” domain name and continued listing service by PKNIC for that domain, shall be finally settled by way of binding arbitration under the rules of the Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center (“DNDRC”) (www.dndrc.com), and the PKNIC process for Domain Dispute Resolution , both of which are primarily based upon the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (As Approved by ICANN on October 24, 1999) and/or the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (As Approved by ICANN on October 24, 1999). The arbitral panel appointed by the DNDRC shall have the power to rule on their own jurisdiction, including any objections with respect to the existence, scope or validity of the arbitration agreement. PKNIC shall implement decisions of DNDRC with respect to those decisions where there is no material deviation with DNDRC's Rules, PKNIC's Dispute Resolution Process (posted here ), and are consistent with applicable arbitration law.
3. Any domains that are registered as a result of any software operation that circumvented the stated policy compliance and procedures, either by external network or software security attack, transient errors or internal malfunctions will be subject to deletion.
4. If a party claims that a domain name already registered with PKNIC violates their registered tradename, an obvious derivation of their registered company name, is not bona fide as recognized by international best practice, is a contravention in the opinion of PKNIC to be a contravention of the latest version of the Pakistan Penal Code Act, 1860 (including offences of defamation & blasphemy)/ Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997/any applicable criminal law, PKNIC reserves the right to cancel, or transfer the domain to the claiming party as per the ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (with PKNIC amendments) or as per the orders of a court judgment in Pakistan.
5. Domain Name Dispute Resolution: PKNIC has adopted, with amendments, the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), established and adopted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers on October 24, 1999. PKNIC's amendment take precedent if there is a conflict between the ICANN UDRP policy and PKNIC's amendments to it. Additional details are available at the following URLs:
   1. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
   2. Rules for Using the UDRP Policy.
   3. PKNIC amendments to UDRP and the PKNIC process for Domain Dispute Resolution
6. There is no requirement for the domain registrant to have any local presence and no Admin contact needs to be present in Pakistan
7. Any claim to trade name or copyright under .PK domain name is considered valid only if it is registered with an official trade-name/copyright/patent office in Pakistan, or is recognized by the courts of law in Pakistan (e.g. international trademarks).
8. Acceptance of the listing entry by the delegated authority confers no rights to the applicant regarding the legitimacy or otherwise of the association of the name with the applicant, nor does it confer to the applicant any other rights associated with ownership of the name, or any rights to its use.
9. No adjudication is made within the registration function as to whether the applicant has a legitimate right to a name. The applicant in lodging the request for a name informs the delegated authority that they are asserting a claimed right to a name.
10. The domain registrant for .edu.pk domain extensions must be a bona fide educational institute, with sizeable active student enrollment.
11. Domain names may be removed from the registration function's records upon receipt of written advice indicating that the list entry should be removed from the registry, on condition that the original applicant (or corporate entity) submits the advice to the delegated authority.
12. All registration information will be considered as information within the public domain, and will be accessible using the Internet as the publication vehicle. No provision is made concerning acceptance of information under any imposed condition of confidentiality or non-disclosure.
13. There is no restriction for the domain name to match the company or its trademarks.
14. There is no restriction for generic dictionary names, and these can be registered under any .pk name, unless precluded by some other clause of this agreement.
15. The party requesting registration of this name certifies that, to her/his knowledge, the use of this name does not violate trademark or other statues.
16. Registering a domain name does not confer any legal rights to that name and any disputes between parties over the rights to use a particular name are to be settled between the contending parties using normal legal methods and the "Dispute Resolution" method described above.
17. Certain words that are deemed derogatory, or offensive will be not be permitted in a domain name. The list of these words is provided by PKNIC Advisory Group members, and may be amended from time to time by PKNIC that, in its discretion, reflect the local community standards.
18. Any domain name whose commonly understood usage results in an obvious attempt at significantly conveying hate, or derogatory material against any religion, person, living or dead, city or a sovereign entity, or a public office, title or any branch of Government of Pakistan, will be subject to de-activation and deletion. Any such action about a domain name shall be taken by PKNIC on the recommendation of its Advisory Group members, provided that the name of the targeted person, entity, or religion etc is a part of the domain name. If the name of the domain is not questionable in this way, PKNIC shall not examine or take into account the contents of any web site associated with a domain name.
19. The new registration and/or renewal of domain names must adhere to the technical and security requirements and restrictions upon domain name and domain name structure.
20. In an effort to be accessible and fair in its operations for Internet users PKNIC is automating its application procedure and as such attempts to approve applications within the shortest time possible. A domain name may be immediately registered on a provisional basis and made available without any human review, contingent to a full review for which PKNIC shall attempt in a maximum of 30 days to approve or reject any application submitted to PKNIC for registration of a .PK domain name, totally in its own discretion and the applicant hereby agrees that he or she shall have no right to any such registration which is wholly the discretion of PKNIC.  However, in case PKNIC preliminarily finds that any application may possibly be objectionable or in contravention with this Policy it may seek clarification from the applicant.  On receiving a response PKNIC may then reject or approve any application with or without necessarily stating any reasons at PKNIC's discretion.  In case PKNIC does not receive any response from the applicant/registrant within a period of 15 days the application for registration will be deemed to automatically be rejected without recourse.
21. The applicant hereby agrees to and is wholly responsible for any and all material or content placed either intentionally or otherwise whether or not known to the applicant and PKNIC shall not be deemed to have any knowledge of the same nor be liable for any claims or losses or damages consequential to any such material or content placed on any website with a PKNIC registered Domain Name.  In any case the applicant hereby irrevocably agrees hereby that the applicant shall indemnify PKNIC for any losses, damages, consequences or liabilities suffered or claimed against PKNIC.
22. A recurring maintenance fee year is charged for each domain name registered with PKNIC (the rates for the domain charges are published on the PKNIC website). This fee is collected in advance every two years and covers unlimited domain modification requests. PKNIC will attempt to provide a renewal reminder by e-mail to account holder and Billing Contact on the e-mail addresses as per the latest domain record. The reminder of the payment is a courtesy service and a failure to receive the reminder or invoice, due to any reason, will no be construed as a valid reason to delay the payment. In the event of non-payment of domain maintenance fee by due date PKNIC in its sole discretion shall de-activate such un-paid domain and offer this expired domain to third party for re-registration on pre-payment on a first come first served basis, after a hold period of two weeks after domain de-activation. The defaulting domain owner can pay and re-activate the expired domain within the hold period.
23. The domains under .GOV.PK that are registered for Federal Ministry level Government (of Pakistan) bodies that are unique and are not replicated at lower levels, may be exempted from the maintenance fee charges. GOV.PK is used primarily for the Federal Government of Pakistan. For provincial domains,the name space of GOP.PK for Govt. of Punjab, GOS.PK for Sindh, GOB.PK for Baluchistan, GKP.PK for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, GOK.PK for Azad Kashmir are used. In certain circumstances a GOV.PK may be used for a high level Provincial Department, that is unique in the province, if the name of the province is prominent in the domain name (e.g. Punjab-Police.gov.pk, etc). The domain maintenance fee exemption is not available to such autonomous departments operating as corporate bodies under Federal or Provincial Governments. 
24. The maintenance fee is non-refundable and non-transferable, even if the domain name is asked to be deleted by the domain owner or someone acting on his behalf.
25. PKNIC has neither the resources nor the legal obligation to screen requested Domain Names to determine if the use of a Domain Name by an Applicant may infringe upon the right(s) of a third party. Consequently, as an express condition and material inducement of the grant of an applicant's ("Applicant") request to register a Domain Name, Applicant represents, agrees and warrants the following four statements and a failure to comply with them, or any other parts of the PKNIC policy, will cause PKNIC to cancel the domain registration of the non-compliant domains of Applicant:
    1. Applicant's statements in the application are true and Applicant has the right to use the Domain Name as requested in the Application;
    2. Applicant has a bona fide intention to use the Domain Name on a regular basis on the Internet;
    3. The use or registration of the Domain Name by Applicant does not interfere with or infringe the right of any third party in any jurisdiction in Pakistan, with respect to trademark, service mark, tradename, company name or any other intellectual property right;
    4. Applicant is not seeking to use the Domain Name for any unlawful purpose, including, without limitation, tortuous interference with contract or prospective business advantage, unfair competition, injuring the reputation of another, or for the purpose of confusing or misleading a person, whether natural or incorporated.
26. PKNIC WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF USE, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, OR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR LOSS OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING EXPECTATIONAL LOSSES OR LOST PROFITS). REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF PKNIC HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE OR LOSS.
27. Force-Majeure PKNIC shall not be responsible for any cessation, interruption or delay in the performance of its obligations hereunder due to earth quake, flood, fire storm, natural disaster, act of God, war, terrorism, cyber attack or cyber vandalism, armed conflict, labour strike, lockout or boycott, or by circumstances beyond its control.