The barring of 0.5 million sims that belong to non-filers was the result of a disagreement between the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and cellular mobile operators (CMOs), according to a report published in The News on Wednesday.
The change occurred one day after the telecom industry said that FBR’s action was blatantly against the terms of the license, the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act of 1996, and other legislation.
A spokesman for OMC stated that further technical, operational, and legal issues were brought up at the meeting with FBR, requiring more discussion.
“Telecom operators made no guarantees regarding SIM blocking,” he continued.
When The News filed this report, FBR Chairman Amjad Zubair Tawana has not responded to requests for comment regarding the talks with CMOs.
