The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has so far blocked more than 11,000 tax-free SIM cell phone filters.
FBR spokesperson Baghtyar Muhammad told Dawn.com, “11,252 SIM cards were blocked on May 22 (Monday) under the Income Tax General Order.
He said the tax collection agency is “committed to improving tax compliance and tax culture”.
Earlier, it was reported that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had issued an interim order on the government’s decision to block the SIM cards of those who failed to file tax returns in 2023. However, IHC later clarified that the order was not to block SIMs but only took action against the petitioner, private telecommunications operator Zong.
During the hearing in the case yesterday, IHC Chief Justice Adalat Farooq said, “Let me say that the visit order is not meant to block the driving license, but only to protect the petitioners.
“The government’s order to block SIM cards is still being implemented,” he said.
On April 30, the FBR released a comprehensive list of 506,671 people who failed to file tax returns in 2023. As a penalty, their mobile phone SIM cards should be blocked immediately. However, telecommunications companies opposed the decision and delayed its implementation by a parliamentary decision.
On May 4, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) refused to comply with the FBR’s request, saying enforcement was not within its jurisdiction and the order was “not legally enforceable”.
A few days later, the telecom company raised its concerns with the IT ministry, saying the FBR’s decision to block unfiltered SIM cards was taken hastily and would affect telecom customers.
The letter from the CMOs states that they are obliged to provide uninterrupted services to their customers except in cases specified in the Telecom Act and relevant regulations; Under no circumstances can CMO suspend or terminate service to any customer.
Finally, on May 10, telecommunications operators agreed to start blocking manual sub-groups of non-filters, ending a week-long standoff on the implementation of tax techniques to widen the tax base.
This understanding was reached after an important meeting of FBR with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and telecom operators to implement Income Tax Order no.
