Tax on incoming international calls to stay

Supreme Court cancels LHC’s stay order against the tax.


Our Correspondent February 21, 2013
According to sources, the government was expected to generate $500 million every month through the imposition of this tax.

LAHORE: Despite being challenged in court, the recently introduced tax on incoming international calls is back for now.

The Supreme Court on Thursday declared the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) stay order against the tax null and void, Express News reported.

The Supreme Court said the case should be heard by the Competition Commission of Pakistan and should be resolved in 15 days.

On October 25, 2012, the LHC, in response to an application filed by a telecom company, issued orders against the tax and declared it unlawful.

Consumers and a few telecom companies objected to the tax, claiming it increased the overall cost and burdened international callers.

However, the LHC order was challenged in the Supreme Court’s Lahore registry. A two-member bench of the apex court heard the case and nullified the LHC order.

Earlier, the Ministry of Information Technology had decided to impose tax on incoming international calls in order to amplify revenue and maintain parity in call rates. According to sources, the government was expected to generate $500 million every month through the imposition of this tax.

The government also argued that grey traffic will be eliminated with the imposition of this tax.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2013.

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