The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) of Pakistan has continued its initiative to block mobile connections of non-tax filers. The board has formed an 18-member joint working group tagging three telcos to manually block the SIM connection of non-tax filers in an effort to widen the country’s tax base.
The committee was devised after a meeting between Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb and representatives of telecom operators on May 12. The joint working group representatives from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Ufone, Telenor Pakistan, and Jazz have collectively solidified the efforts. However, an operator Zong has no representation on the JWG, FBR issued on Friday, May 17.
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Telcos agree to block non-tax filers’ SIM connections
The telecom operators have agreed to the manual blocking of mobile connections of non-filers in batches as part of a decision to implement ITGO-No1, issued under Section 114-B of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. However, Zong filed a petition protesting the ITGO-No1 with the IHC on May 14. Dawn said that the three mobile network operators (MNOs) began SIM blocking of non-filers.
“We have confirmation from the three telecom operators of blocking of SIMs,” the official said, adding that only Zong has challenged the FBR decision. The attorney general’s office has already been requested to look into the issue, added the tax official.
According to the FBR notification, the JWG was constituted to enforce the ITGO-No1 of 2024 and to streamline the process of blockage of SIMs of non-filers by law. It further said the JWG will serve as a platform for collaboration and communication between the concerned parties to address any challenges and facilitate the smooth implementation of the ITGO-No1 to block the SIMs of non-filers listed in the order.
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Coercive measures!
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that the court had not issued a stay order against the blocking of non-filers SIMs. He shared that instead the court rather had restrained the federal government from proceeding with any “coercive measures” against the telecom companies.
Barrister Salman Akram Raja, representing Zong, referred to the ITGO-No1 issued by the FBR and argued that the addition of Section 114B of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 to the Finance Act 2022 breached the basic right of freedom of business etched in Article 18. He added that there could be no law contrary to the fundamental rights. He said the government could not gain the power to block people’s SIM cards by amending the law.
The debate emerged after the FBR issued the ITGO on April 30, with a list of 506,671 individual non-tax filers for 2023.