IHC bars authorities from blocking SIMs till May 27
Pakistan
The court issues a stay order till further hearing
- Telecom companies say blockage of 500,000 SIMs means an annual loss of Rs1 billion
- FBR and PTA had earlier reached an agreement to crack down on non-filers
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday stopped the authorities concerned from blocking SIMs of non-filers.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition of a telecom company which questioned the rationale behind the Federal Board of Revenue insistence on blocking SIMs of non-filers.
Advocate Salman Akram Raja appeared as a counsel for the company and argued that the move to block SIMS was in contravention of Article 18 of the constitution. He said the blockage of more than 500,000 SIMs meant Rs1 billion annual loss.
The court stopped the authorities from blocking SIMs and issued a stay order till May 27. The court sought a reply from the respondents.
Agreement on SIMs’ blockage
Earlier, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) agreed to block SIMs of non-filers after deliberations with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The PTA and telecom companies agreed to block the SIMs of 5,000 non-filers every day.
The development came as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) held negotiations with the PTA and telecom companies. The FBR officials had a meeting with PTA and telecom operators for implementation of the Income Tax General Order.
The purpose of the meetings was to ensure blocking of mobile SIMs of non-filers of tax year 2023.
According to FBR officials, telecom operators agreed to manually block SIMs in small batches and a list of 5,000 non-filers had been provided to the telecom operators to block their SIMs.
