Deadlock persists between FBR, CMO over blocking of 0.5 million SIMs

• The OMC spokesperson says the meeting highlighted several issues.
• No assurances are being given by OMCs about blocking SIMs, he says.
• FBR notifies project management team about digitization.

Islamabad: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and mobile operators (CMOs) failed to reach a consensus on blocking 0.5 million sims belonging to non-filers, The news reported on Wednesday.

The development comes a day after the telecom sector declared the FBR’s move a clear violation of the Pakistan Telecommunications (Re-Organisation) Act 1996, license conditions and regulations.

The OMC spokesperson said that during the meeting with the FBR, additional technical, operational and legal issues were highlighted, which require further discussions.

“No assurances were given by the telecom operators about SIM blocking,” he added.

Despite reaching out to FBR Chairman Amjad Zubair Tawana for comments on discussions with CMOs, no response was received till the time of filing The news report.

In addition, the tax collection authority had also made progress towards digitization as it briefed the project management team on Digitization of Tax System.

The team consists of Muhammad Khalid Jamil (IRS/BS-20) as Project Manager (Contractor), Zainul Abidin Sahi (IRS/BS-20) as Head (Systems), IT Wing, Arshad Nawaz Chheena (IRS/ BS-20) as Chief (Revenue Operations), IR-operations Wing, Bushra Jaffar (IRS/BS-19) as Chief (OPS) (DRM), Reforms and Modernization Wing, Mohammad Iqbal Khan (IRS/BS-19) as director (POS) , director general of digital initiatives and Usman Kokab as a focal person from Karandaz.

The project management team will oversee and manage the execution and implementation of the project, working closely with all stakeholders to coordinate the project from inception to completion. Will ensure adherence to schedules, deliverables and quality standards.