The telecom companies have warned that they may have to initiate telephone “load-shedding” across the country due to a massive hike in taxes, ARY News reported on Friday.
Telecom operators have warned the public to get ready for regular outages of ‘phone calls’ across the country just like electricity load shedding after the federal government increased the taxes on the telecom industry.
During a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, telecommunication officials apprised the senators that load-shedding of phone calls could be experienced in the coming days, similar to electricity outages.
During the meeting, The representatives of the telecom firms briefed the members of the Senate’s standing committee on the massive hike in the import levy of the fiber optic due to the increase in advance tax by 15% while duty has been increased by 20%.
They demanded a reduction in the advance tax on the imports of fiber optic to 8% and stated that the equipment being used in the telecom industry was declared luxurious items, with the import duty being hiked by 20%.
They claimed that the telecom companies are already grappling with several challenges and the increase in taxes on fiber optic cable will put an additional burden on the telecom industry.
They said that if the tough decisions for the telecom sector are not made, Pakistan will lose the global race. They added that people cannot use ATMs if fiber optic cables are not laid.
