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Tag: PTA

  • FBR warns of penalties amid filers grievances

    FBR warns of penalties amid filers grievances

    ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday warned non-filers of harsh action including monetary penalty and imprisonment.

    In a statement, a FBR spokesman said that the last date for filing income tax return for tax year 2021 is October 15, 2021 and it will not be further extended.

    The actual last date for filing the income tax returns for tax year 2021 was September 30, 2021. However, to technical issues on the FBR portal this date was extended for 15 days. The FBR in this regard issued Circular No. 08 to extend the date of filing income tax returns.

    Through the latest statement, the FBR urged the persons having taxable income or those who are required to file their returns under Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, should file their returns in remaining two days.

    According to the statement the FBR’s IRIS portal was working smoothly. “Therefore, no further date will be extended beyond October 15, 2021,” the spokesman said.

    The spokesman further said that after the due date the non-filers would face monetary penalty of Rs1,000 each day of default. Furthermore, the non-filers may face imprisonment for two years.

    The tax practitioners, however, are not satisfied with the performance of the FBR stating that the technical issues were not resolved so far.

    “Despite repeated requests the FBR has not resolved the issues in return filing,” Zeeshan Merchant, President, Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) told PkRevenue.com

    Merchant said that calculation error in return form for SMEs was still a major issue.

    Besides, these issues the taxpayers and tax practitioners had also faced slow speed of internet, which was caused by a fault in international cable, as income tax returns are required to file electronically.

    Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) a day earlier issued a statement on the cable fault and said that it was monitoring the situation and will continue to update on it.

    “A submarine cable fault was reported yesterday near Fujairah, UAE due to which some users may have faced degradation in services. The faulty cable segment has been repaired & work is underway to make the services fully functional,” the PTA said.

    Taxpayers urged to file tax returns by October 15
  • Cellular spectrum auction generates $30 million: PTA

    Cellular spectrum auction generates $30 million: PTA

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Tuesday said that an amount of $30 million has been generated as revenue from first-ever cellular spectrum auction for Next Generation Mobile Service (NGMS) in Azad Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit Baltistan.

    (more…)
  • Ufone awarded Next Generation MS spectrum

    Ufone awarded Next Generation MS spectrum

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Telecom Company, Ufone has been awarded Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) spectrum by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as a result of recently held spectrum auction.

    The company won the spectrum in a bid to enhance 4G customer experience across the country.

    Federal Minister for IT & Telecom, Syed Aminul Haq along with Secretary IT & Telecom, Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Chairman PTA, Major General Amir Azeem Bajwa (Retd.) HI (M), senior officials from the ministry and PTCL Group attended the event. DG Licensing PTA, Brig. Amer Shahzad (Retd.) and President and Group CEO, PTCL & Ufone, Hatem Bamatraf signed the contract.

    The company plans to use the spectrum to introduce new innovative products and services and enhance its customer experience by providing high-quality internet as well as to expand its existing network to unserved and underserved regions of the country.

    Sharing his thoughts on spectrum acquisition, President and Group CEO, PTCL & Ufone, Hatem Bamatraf said: “It is a historic day for Ufone, as we have acquired additional 4G Spectrum in order to fully optimize our mobile data services. This will enable us to further enhance our users’ experience, expand the existing network to serve the unserved areas. Improved data experience will enable a digital transformation in education, health care, agriculture, banking and ecommerce ecosystems to name a few.”

    “We appreciate Government of Pakistan for executing the spectrum auction process in a seamless and transparent manner”, he further added.

    The additional spectrum will enable Ufone to not only connect Pakistanis living in far flung areas without cellular services but will also enable people in urban centers and towns to enjoy new sets of innovative products and unmatched experience.

    Pakistan produces 12.27mn mobile phones in 7 months
  • Pakistan produces 12.27mn mobile phones in 7 months

    Pakistan produces 12.27mn mobile phones in 7 months

    ISLAMABAD: The number of locally manufactured mobile phones in Pakistan has surpassed 12 million during seven months (January – July) of 2021.

    The local manufacturing of mobile phones has crossed the number of imported mobile phones in the same months of 2021.

    A statement issued by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Thursday regarding local production of mobile phones.

    It said the production of mobile phones by local manufacturing plants was 12.27 million and the number of imported mobile phones was recorded at 8.29 million.

    “This trend reflects a positive uptake on PTA’s Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Authorization regulatory regime whereby local manufacturing within the first year of regime introduction has resulted in production of 12.27 million phones in a short span of seven months including 4.87 million 4G smart phones.”

    The PTA said that successful implementation of Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DRIBS) along with conducive government policies, including mobile manufacturing policy, has created a favorable environment for mobile manufacturing in Pakistan.

    “It has also contributed positively to the mobile ecosystem of Pakistan by eliminating counterfeit device market providing a level playing field for commercial entities and has created trust amongst consumers due to the formulation of standardized legal channels for all sort of device import.”

    The PTA said that the government had introduced a comprehensive mobile manufacturing policy to encourage and attract manufacturers to establish their units in Pakistan.

    The telecom authority in light of the policy issued Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) Regulations on January 28, 2021. “Till now, 26 companies have been issued MDM authorization enabling them to manufacture mobile devices in Pakistan.”

    The companies include renowned brands e.g. Samsung, Nokia, Oppo, TECNO, Infinix, Vgotel, Q-mobile etc.

    Pakistan exports mobile phones to UAE
  • Pakistan exports mobile phones to UAE

    Pakistan exports mobile phones to UAE

    ISLAMABAD: A consignment of around 5,500 mobile phones carrying tag ‘manufactured in Pakistan’ has been exported the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a statement said.

    The statement issued by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said that its authorization holder Inovi Telecom has started exporting smart phones to other countries.

    The first consignment of 5500 units of 4G smart phones carrying ‘Manufactured in Pakistan’ tag has been exported to UAE.

    PTA congratulates the company for this landmark achievement. This is the result of concerted efforts for the development of mobile device manufacturing ecosystem in the country.

    The successful implementation of Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) and enabling government policies including the Mobile Manufacturing Policy have created a favorable environment for mobile device manufacturing in Pakistan.

    As a part of this policy, Inovi Telecom Pvt. Ltd was issued mobile manufacturing authorization by PTA on April 9, 2021. Within 4 months, the company has managed to achieve exporting.

  • New initiatives to facilitate digital financial products

    New initiatives to facilitate digital financial products

    New initiatives to facilitate digital financial products have been unveiled by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to boost digitalization.

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  • TikTok blocked in Pakistan due to immoral content

    TikTok blocked in Pakistan due to immoral content

    Islamabad – In a decisive move on Wednesday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blocked access to the popular social media application TikTok, citing the platform’s consistent failure to prevent the dissemination of immoral content.

    (more…)
  • PTA renews licenses of three cellular phone operators in AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan

    PTA renews licenses of three cellular phone operators in AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) has renewed licenses of three leading cellular mobile operators for Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.

    The ceremony for renewal of licenses was held in PTA headquarters, Islamabad on Thursday.

    Three Cellular Mobile Operators i.e. Telenor Pakistan, PMCL (Jazz) and PTML (Ufone) have deposited payment (50 per cent of the PTA determined license fee) amounting to Rs3.19 Billion against their license renewal fee with PTA.

    The event was attended by Federal Secretary for IT & Telecommunication, Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Chairman PTA, Major General Amir Azim Bajwa (R); Member Finance PTA, Muhammad Naveed and Member Compliance & Enforcement PTA, Dr. Khawar Siddique Khokhar; Executive Director, Frequency Allocation Board (FAB); Joint Secretary Gilgit Baltistan Council; Deputy Secretary (Finance) and Deputy Secretary (Welfare & Development) AJ&K Council and senior officers of PTA. CEOs of Telenor, Jazz and Ufone along with senior representatives of CMOs also attended the event.

    On the occasion, Chairman PTA lauded the efforts of the cellular operators for playing a crucial role in providing connectivity across these regions.

    He also appreciated the tireless efforts of concerned officials of PTA, FAB and MoIT for timely conclusion of the renewal process. He further stated that AJ&K and GB are the prime areas of tourism in Pakistan and the license renewal will pave the way for provision of 3G/4G and Next Generation Mobile Services to the consumers of these areas as well to the tourists.

    Continuous efforts are being made to bring state of the art telecommunication services to far flung areas enabling access to a multitude of opportunities for businesses, education and health.

    On this occasion Secretary IT & T, Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput congratulated the mobile operators on renewal of licenses. He said that AJ&K and GB have immense importance in government policies, and it is the government’s priority to provide advanced telecom services in these regions. He said that there are vast opportunities for public-private collaboration in various sectors including telecoms.

    It is pertinent to mention that due to license renewals, this will not only contribute towards uninterrupted provision of better telecom services to the people of AJ&K and GB but will also help in promotion of competition and investment in the telecom sector.

  • PTA receives Rs15.82bn from mobile operators as 2nd installment for license renewal fees

    PTA receives Rs15.82bn from mobile operators as 2nd installment for license renewal fees

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Thursday said it has received an amount of Rs 15.82 billion (equivalent of $103.17 million) against second installment of License Renewal Fee from two Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs); Telenor Pakistan and Pakistan Mobile Communication Ltd. (Jazz).

    The amount is being deposited in Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) as per practice under Pakistan Telecom Re-organization Act 1996.

    PTA has so far deposited PKR 135.81 billion (equivalent of USD 862.22 million) with the Government, received against 50% of total License Renewal Fee and first instalment of the same from three CMOs.

    With the amount of second installment received from two CMOs now, the total receipts on this count have become PKR 151.63 billion (USD 965.39 million). The second license renewal fee instalment of CMPAK (ZONG) for USD 54.086 shall be due in October 2021.

  • PTA issues billing advisory for telecom consumers

    PTA issues billing advisory for telecom consumers

    ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued advisory for telecom consumers to avoid billing shocks while subscribing broadband internet packages.

    The PTA on Sunday said that following options may be considered/exercised to avoid billing issues and avail mobile broadband services at affordable rates/prices:

    — Standard / baseline mobile data (default) rates are generally costly/expensive, therefore, consumers are encouraged to opt/subscribe for daily, weekly or monthly mobile data bundles/packages/offers as they are more affordable / cheaper and provides good value for money.

    — Consumers who do not wish to use mobile internet may change their mobile handset internet settings as follows:

    > click on settings

    > Select network/ SIM cards / internet / mobile data

    > Select SIM card/Mobile Data options

    > Select preferred network type / voice and data

    > select 2G or 3G

    — To void ‘bill shocks’, data connection may be switched off while not in use.

    — Before subscribing any mobile broadband data package / offer/ bundle, “terms and conditions” should be read carefully. Subscription of new or additional bundle may result in removal of existing bundles’ free incentives and resource such as SMS, minutes and data.

    — After activation of any specific offer or package through mobile application, consumers are advised to use the same after receipt of confirmation SMS from operator.

    — In case any complaint related to auto subscription of offer, package or bundle, overcharging, billing related issue, helpline and quality of service etc. consumers can contact concerned operator first. In case of no response from concerned operator, the issue may be escalated to the PTA.