Google payment issue resolved, Senate committee informed

ISLAMABAD: The officials of the Information Technology (IT) ministry on Monday said the payment issue with Google has been resolved.

The statement came in during the meeting of the Senate standing committee on Information Technology held here in Islamabad.

The officials said on the directions of Prime Minister Shehabz Sharif, payment has been made to the Google companies and the issue now stands resolved.

The meeting was also briefed that two new infrastructure companies have been issued licences, adding that chip manufacturing will also begin in Pakistan soon.

Earlier, Federal Information Technology and Telecommunication Minister Aminul Haque said a letter had been sent to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar regarding the telecom operators’ concerns over the blocking of payment to Google.

In a statement, Haque added that a few days ago, all telecom operators had penned a letter to his ministry, expressing their concerns over the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) blocking payment by users to Google.

He further said considering the seriousness of the matter, all stakeholders were consulted and it was decided to convey these concerns to the finance minister through a letter.