Pakistan set to ban import of used mobile phones

ISLAMABAD – The federal cabinet has set a new deadline to block smuggled and non-compliant mobile phones, Information Minister Ch Fawad Hussain confirmed on Friday.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, after attending the cabinet meeting, said that all those mobile phones smuggled after December 31 will be blocked by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

However, he added, the mobile phones smuggled before the said date will not be blocked.

The decision has been made to curb the mobile phones smuggling, which is damaging the national economy.

The minister further hinted at imposing a ban on the import of used mobile phones in the South Asian country.

Last month, PTA had directed cellular users to register their phones in order to use them in Pakistan.

However, the authority extends the deadline of implementation of Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) until further notice after the reservations over the verification process by Senate Standing Committee.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/pta-asked-to-extend-deadline-for-non-compliant-phones-blockage/

During the financial year 2017-18 Pakistan has imported mobile phones worth of $847.66 million and in the previous financial year the import bill exceeded $1 billion, however, there was no duty on imports from China under the free trade agreement with China and little duty applicable from other countries.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/budget-2018-19-imported-smartphones-get-more-expensive-after-additional-taxes/

The government has revised the customs duties on the mobile phones in order to curb the import bills that are damaging the country’s economy. The government has levied regulatory and customs duties on the mobile phone which resulted in the smuggling of mobile phones in the country negatively affecting the government revenues.