5000 SIMs to be blocked daily: FBR

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and telecom operators have agreed to block the mobile SIM cards of non-filers, with 5,000 SIMs to be blocked daily, ARY News reported.

According to FBR, the details of 5,000 non-filers have been shared with telecom operators today.

FBR stated that telecom operators will receive additional lists of non-filers on a daily basis, and have already started sending messages to non-filers warning them of SIM blocking.

The FBR believes that blocking SIMs of non-filers will increase tax revenue.

Moreover, the General Order under Income Tax Ordinance 2001, Section 114B, was issued after FBR meetings with PTA, and telecom operators. The purpose of the meetings was to proceed SIM blocking of non-filers for tax year 2023.

An FBR spokesperson added that telecom operators have agreed to block SIMs manually in small batches.

Prior to this development, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Telecom companies failed to reach consensus regarding the blocking mobile SIMs.

Sources close to the development revealed that the Cellular Mobile Companies refused to block the SIMs of 506,000 identified non-compliant taxpayers due to technical and operational obstacles.

READ: SIMS of over 500,000 non-filers to be blocked

“In a statement, Telecom companies stated that there are legal complexities in implementing FBR’s directives,” Sources claimed.

It is pertinent to mention here that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) issued an income tax general order on April 30, calling the authorities to block the SIM cards of more than 506,000 identified non-compliant taxpayers across the nation