Mobile users will no longer be able to download paid Google Play Store services as of December 1st.
SBP suspended the Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) mechanism, blocking the payment of US$34 million annually by wireless carriers to international service providers including Google, Amazon, Meta, etc.
Pakistani customers will now be forced to download Google and other international apps to make payments using only credit or debit cards.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revoked the IT designation of telecom operators months ago.
The digital economy in Pakistan relies heavily on international service providers for cloud platform hosting, licenses required by services/platforms, and security features.
All major players like Google, Amazon & Meta, etc. are affected by payment failures and will most likely stop their services.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) and four mobile operators (CMOs) unanimously wrote a joint letter to the State Bank of Pakistan on Friday, asking them to overturn their decision to use the DCB mechanism for payments
