![](https://nextpakistan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sim.jpg)
- May 14, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
On Tuesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued an order against the government’s move to disable non-tax filers’ SIM cards. Telecom companies decided to start manually banning non-filers in small batches on Friday, putting an end to the week-long dispute over the rollout of the tax machinery effort to increase the tax base. To implement Income Tax General Order No. 1, which was issued under Section 114 B of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) held critical meetings with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and telecom providers. Following these discussions, an understanding was achieved.
A detailed list of 506,671 people who failed to file their tax returns for 2023 was made public by the FBR on April 30. Their cell phone SIMs would be immediately blocked as a punishment. The decision, which was made by a parliamentary act, was met with opposition by telecom companies, who postponed its implementation. Following multiple discussions, the telecom operators have decided to start the manual blocking procedure in small batches until their systems are ready to automate it, according to an official statement from the FBR. Private telecom company Zong filed a petition, which was heard by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
Salman Akram Raja, the petitioner’s attorney, contended at the hearing that the constitutional change in question violated Article 18’s guarantee of the fundamental right to freedom of commerce. “No legislation that violates the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution may be passed.” Advocate Raja argued that the government cannot change the legislation to have the authority to prevent people’s SIM cards from working. He stated that there would be an annual loss of Rs. 1 billion if more than 500,000 SIM cards were disabled. Respondents were asked to respond by May 27th, per the IHC. When the FBR first demanded that the mobile phone SIMs be blocked on May 4, PTA rejected the request, claiming that it was beyond of its purview and that the order would have “no legally binding effect” since it did not comply with the relevant legal framework.
Then, on May 7, telecom businesses collectively sent the Ministry of IT their worries, stating that the FBR’s decision to restrict non-filers SIM cards was taken in a hurry and would affect telecom customers. According to the letter they sent, the cellular mobile operators (CMOs) could not disconnect or block a customer’s service because they were required by law to provide continuous services to their customers, except the situations specified in the Telecom Act and any applicable regulations.