Domain name rules: length, characters, hyphens and what you cannot register

Length, characters and hyphens: the technical rules

A domain name is a chain of labels separated by dots. In karachi-tailors.com.pk the label you choose is karachi-tailors; the rest is the suffix. The internet standards RFC 1035 and RFC 1123 set the limits. A label is 1 to 63 characters, using only the letters a to z, the digits 0 to 9 and the hyphen. RFC 1035 wanted a letter first; RFC 1123 allows a digit there too, but a label can never start with a hyphen and cannot end with one. Two hyphens in the third and fourth positions (ab--cd) are reserved for encoded international names, which all begin with xn--. Spaces, underscores, symbols and Urdu letters are not allowed in a plain label. Case does not matter: KarachiTailors and karachitailors are the same name. The whole name is capped at 255 bytes, a limit you will not reach in practice.

Urdu script and other languages: IDN basics

An internationalised domain name (IDN) lets a label use characters outside the basic Latin alphabet, such as Arabic, Urdu, Chinese or Cyrillic script. What you see is called the U-label. The DNS itself only stores letters, digits and hyphens, so the label is converted into an ASCII form, the A-label, which starts with xn--. ICANN's own example is a Hindi word that becomes xn--11b5bs1di. Pakistan has an Urdu-script country code, .پاکستان (xn--mgbai9azgqp6j), delegated on 15 February 2017 and run by the National Telecommunication Corporation in Islamabad. PKNIC's published .pk rules are written for plain Latin labels, its site lists only Latin-script endings, and we have not seen Urdu-script .pk names on offer. For a small business we suggest keeping the main name in plain letters, because most customers, invoices and FBR forms use Latin spelling anyway.

Reserved names you cannot register

Some names are blocked before anyone can ask for them. RFC 2606 keeps example.com, example.net and example.org, plus the .test, .example, .invalid and .localhost endings, for documentation and testing. In the newer generic endings, ICANN's base registry agreement reserves two-character labels at the second level, country and territory names, and the names of the Olympic movement, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and intergovernmental organisations. Two-character labels were released in stages on 1 December 2014 and 13 December 2016, so some are now open. PKNIC keeps its own list. The labels pk and www, and every suffix label such as com or net, are reserved under each category, so pk.com.pk and www.net.pk cannot exist. PKNIC also runs a blocked list, with INFO.PK and NAME.PK as its examples, and refuses words it finds derogatory or offensive.

Premium names: what the word means at checkout

A premium name is one the registry prices above its standard fee. Google Registry's .app pricing policy, for instance, treats a name as premium when its yearly registration fee is higher than the standard rate, and commits to giving registrars a way to look up the price before the name is registered. Ask whether the higher price repeats at renewal before you commit. A second kind of premium is the aftermarket: a name already owned by someone willing to sell at their own price. That is what our marketplace at /buy-domain/ and /sell-domain/ handles, and /domain-value/ gives a rough idea of what a name might fetch. PKNIC publishes a single fee for Pakistan-based registrants, Rs 2,100 per year, billed two years at a time; a separate US dollar rate applies outside Pakistan. We found no premium tier on its policy page. Our own rupee prices are on /pricing/.

Trademarks and the UDRP in one paragraph

Registering a domain gives you the name, not a trademark. PKNIC's policy says plainly that registration confers no legal rights to the name. Under ICANN's Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP), a trademark owner can win your domain by proving three things: the name matches or is confusingly close to their mark, you have no rights or legitimate interest in it, and you both registered it and are using it in bad faith. The only remedies are cancellation or transfer of the domain. PKNIC has adopted the UDRP with its own amendments, which take precedence, and disputes over .pk names go to the Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre (DNDRC); a respondent gets 14 days to reply. Before you pay for a name, search the IPO Pakistan trademark register and avoid names built on a well-known brand, even with a Pakistani twist.

PKNIC's extra rules for .pk and .com.pk

PKNIC adds rules on top of the technical ones. A direct .pk name needs at least four characters; a third-level name such as .com.pk can be as short as one character. The maximum label is 63 characters and the whole name cannot exceed 70. Since August 2013 a four-character .pk name cannot start with or contain a suffix label (coms.pk, net2.pk, govs.pk and a-ac.pk are refused), and since May 2014 no second-level .pk name may end with one either, unless it is long enough not to be confused. Fees are charged two years at a time and can be paid up to ten years ahead, which is why the minimum term is two years. Once registered, the name itself cannot be changed. The registrant record is locked: changing the owner means an authority letter on letterhead with a CNIC copy, or an affidavit on Rs 100 stamp paper, posted to PKNIC in Lahore.

• .com.pk for general business or individuals; .biz.pk and .web.pk for business and websites
• .org.pk for non-profits; .fam.pk for families and individuals
• .edu.pk for educational institutes; .ac.pk open since 15 May 2024 without formal accreditation
• .gov.pk and the provincial and regional endings (.gop.pk, .gos.pk, .gkp.pk, .gob.pk, .gog.pk, .gok.pk) for government bodies only

Practical naming advice for a Pakistani business

Pick a name people can say on a phone call and type on a cheap Android keyboard. Short beats clever. Avoid hyphens and digits unless they are already part of your brand: a customer who hears Lahore Foods will type lahorefoods, and someone else may own that version. Decide the spelling once, because PKNIC will not change the name later, and use the same spelling on your SECP or FBR papers. Check the name at /domains/ before you fall in love with it, and try /ideas/ if the first choice is taken. When you order through /order/, we confirm availability again before filing, register the domain in your own name through PKNIC or a registrar, take payment in rupees by bank transfer, Raast, JazzCash or Easypaisa, and aim to file the same working day the money arrives.

Common questions