Various telecommunication companies have blocked over 11,000 SIMs of non-filers as of May 22 in accordance with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)’s Income Tax General Order, according to a FBR spokesperson.
In a statement, the spokesperson recalled that the FBR had informed telecommunication companies about the government’s decision to block the SIMs of non-filers in a bid to curb tax evasion and improve revenue generation amidst the ongoing economic crisis. “The decision has been made by Parliament, therefore the government’s decision should be implemented in any case,” read the statement.
According to the FBR, thus far, 11,252 of the more than 500,000 SIMs earmarked for blockage over non-filing of returns have been blocked. Earlier, the telecommunication companies and the FBR had reached an agreement to manually block the SIMs in batches of 5,000 until a system could be formulated to automatically do so.
Reportedly, however, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has reiterated to the government that it lacks the authority to block any SIMs, as was already communicated earlier this month.
The FBR statement said that the body would unblock the SIMs of any affected individuals once they file their pending tax returns.
Separately on Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reiterated that it had not suspended the government decision to block SIMs of non-filers while hearing a case filed by Zong against the decision.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq observed that a stay order issued by the court applied solely to safeguarding the petitioner. “We can understand that the federal government is focusing on economic reforms. This step may have been taken in the context of economic reforms,” he remarked, adding the proceedings would be expedited.