After the imposition of 20 paisas tax on SMS, i have witnessed quite ferocious remarks about it. People in general, here on ProPakistani didn’t welcome it. Some of them are calling on to even contact Supreme Court about it; while some are saying that Telecom Companies should not accept it. But keeping the close eye, i don’t see that would happen in any case.
Look, Telecom companies are not going to be on Your Side on this one. The tax imposed didn’t effect them at all. It effected the End-users, The Consumers. Telecom companies were happy that they got relaxation somewhere around (in form of SIM Activation tax and GST). So, they would not try to pressurize government over the issue.
They are here to minch money, not to stand by its customers. In reality, the telecom companies are getting 8% as revenue from SMS. So, its nothing compared to rest to 92%. Most of the revenue they get is via Calls. In shot, So, don’t expect Telcos to stand by.
(by the way, in my personal perception, this 20 paisas tax is imposed with consent of telcos, and they taken in trust prior to the decision, in my perception, i have no evidence of this though)
The SMS packages targeted market was University/College guys n guls. And they they happen to be the main hit of this decision. The rural area of our country and Working people (Job walas) are not target market. The later prefer calling than texting. The elders prefer calling than texting. The fruit wala prefer calling than texting. So, basically this won’t effect the general audience at large.
I don’t stand for the government on this one. But this is reality dear. Governments here always minch money from middle and lower class in shape of indirect taxes. Keeping in view the earlier statement of Rehman Malik , that we can ban Sms if we want to, we were expecting such kind of action from the government as they think this will stop funny and malicious message campaign against government.
Just on the lighter side, Government has announced plots in DHA Swat. So, if you want to get one, please contact 111-ZARDARI
(Thanx Dr. Awab for this one)
Update: SMS tax has been taken back by government of Pakistan
