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Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb was reassured by telecom companies on Monday about daily blocking of 5000 SIMs belonging to individuals who had not filed their income tax returns. This commitment was made by top executives of the telecom firms during a meeting held at the Ministry of Finance.
A consensus was reached among the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and telecom companies to block 5,000 SIMs of non-filers daily, whose details were listed in Income Tax General Order No. 1 of 2024.
Read Also: Telecom Operators in Islamabad Block Over 3,500 SIM Cards in Crackdown on Tax Evasion
In accordance with the agreement between the FBR and mobile phone operators, the telecom companies have commenced the process of blocking SIMs as per the FBR’s Income Tax General Order (ITGO). Additionally, the FBR sent notifications to 5,000 individuals, warning them of the imminent blocking of their mobile phone SIMs if they failed to file their tax returns.
On Sunday, the FBR forwarded the third batch of 5,000 non-filers to the telecom companies, who agreed to begin the manual process of blocking SIMs in small increments until their systems could automate the process entirely. Subsequent batches will be sent to the telcos on a daily basis.
Furthermore, telecom operators have started sending notifications to non-filers about the impending blocking of SIMs for informational purposes.