Mobile phones blocked by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) can be unblocked for just Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000.
This was revealed during a meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Information, which was chaired by Rubina Khalid.
“These mobile phones had been blocked over non-payment of custom duty. The government could have got Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 duty upon their registration. A campaign was started so that the government could earn revenue, but the blocked phones are being recovered in just Rs 2,000,” Mian Ateeq said.
Rubina Khalid said that the scheme was primarily aimed to curb the smuggling of mobile phones. She said that overseas Pakistanis were only allowed to bring one mobile phone each with them. “If they bring more than one, they manage to get through customs by asking other passengers to help them,” she said.