60% Tax on Phones is Too High: PTA Chairman

Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)  Major General (R) Hafeez Ur Rehman told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that 60 percent tax on mobile phones is too high.

Speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology, he said PTA recommends tax reductions to the government every year.

He said the duties and taxes imposed on mobile phones are not levied by PTA since its role is limited to operating the Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) and whitelisting mobile devices.

PTA does not even know the exact tax on each phone, he added.

Committee Chairman Syed Amin Ul Haque said smartphones are no longer luxury products and the current tax burden makes smartphones unnecessarily expensive.

PTA chairman informed the committee that the authority has licensed 37 companies to manufacture or assemble mobile phones in Pakistan. Around 26 million mobile phones are assembled locally, while only 8 percent of handsets are imported.

Minister of State for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja told the committee that premium devices such as Apple iPhones and Google Pixel smartphones are among the imported handsets that attract higher taxes.

Amin Ul Haque said that if global brands such as Nokia and Samsung can operate in the country, then companies like Apple should also be encouraged to start assembling phones in Pakistan.