In the fiscal year 2019-20 (FY2020), the telecoms sector in Pakistan withstood the effects of COVID-19 and showed sustainable revenues of Rs. 537.2 billion compared to Rs. 550.4 billion in FY2019.
The sector also made a big contribution of $622.5 million (24 percent) to the entire net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) within the country. This was revealed by the Annual Report 2020 released by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Thursday.
The sector’s contribution to the national exchequer also increased by 129 percent (Rs. 278.4 billion), due to deposits of $687.8 million by Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) under license and spectrum renewal fee and a considerable increase generally nuisance tax (GST) and withholding (WHT), which remained suspended last year on the directions of the Honorable Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ranked PTA as 4th Generation Regulator (G4), thus placing Pakistan among the highest five regulators within the Asia-Pacific region and therefore the only G4 regulator in South Asia. This recognition may be a testimony to the rapid evolution of ICT regulations in Pakistan, and a move towards collaborative regulations.
Taxes and duties collected from individual consumers, which was an untapped area for revenue collection before DIRBS, has resulted within the collection of Rs. 7.7 billion during the amount between January 2019 and September 2020.
Furthermore, the successful implementation of DIRBS has also facilitated exploration of the chance for local manufacturing of mobile handsets. the supply of A level playing field has resulted within the establishment of quite 29 local assembly plants and therefore the production of over 18.36 million local mobile handsets since 2019.
In addition to the aforementioned taxes and contributions made by the telecom sector, the FBR also collects an enormous amount against the import of cellular mobile handsets, which allows only registered and tax-paid handsets to attach to telecom networks in Pakistan.
