Rumors that the registration process and relevant duties and taxes for mobile devices might alter have been debunked by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
According to PTA spokeswoman Khurram Ali Mehran, the registration procedure and any related duties or taxes have not changed. For the next 60 days, all mobile devices can be used without being registered or paying any taxes. If they are not registered after 60 days, they will be blocked automatically, he added.
For the past few days, there have been rumors in the market that owners of cell phones that have not been certified by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) have been ecstatic to once again see local cellular networks on their devices. They used social media to share advice on how to get their SIMs working in their blocked phones.
While others viewed it as a technical issue, there have been persistent speculations that the Shehbaz Sharif-led government has eliminated the significant tax on pricey cell phones and ordered the PTA to unblock the gadgets. In Pakistan, approximately 33 local assembly plants for mobile devices have been established since the Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) was implemented in 2019. This represents a major rise in the legal import of mobile devices.
Only 119,639 cell phones were made locally in 2019, but that figure increased to 2.1 million in 2020. Local manufacturing facilities produced/assembled 24.66 million mobile phone handsets in 2021 as opposed to 13.05 million in 2020, an increase of 88%.