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Telephone calls to Pakistan taxed heavily again by Zardari government

(79 posts)
12

  1. ڈر

    bawa jee

    افشاں باجی نے کل سری لنکن فورم پی جا کر مبارک بعد دی ہے ، جب پاکستان جیتا تو پاکستان کو امریکا کی طرف سے مبارک بعد دی

    ہا ہا

    Posted 8 months ago on 05 Oct 2012 7:41 #

  2. Bawa

    فیئر بھائی جی

    یہی تو کوڑھیوں اور امریکیوں کی منافقت ہے. رنگ بدلتے ایک سیکینڈ نہیں لگاتے

    Posted 8 months ago on 05 Oct 2012 8:12 #

  3. Adonis

    @ Sharif Aadmi

    There is no question of finance bill etc. as this is not a legislative issue.

    Telecom is a regulated sector and the increase in call landing charges has been done by PTA (Pakistan Telecom Authority). This move will benefit PTCL the most as the bulk of telecom traffic lands in Pakistan through PTCL infrastructure. PTCL had been pressurizing PTA to take this step for a long time and finally it caved in after recent appointment of a new chairman.

    Decisions of PTA can be challenged in the High Court and it would be good if affected people approach the courts.

    Of course such exorbitant rise in call landing charges will increase grey traffic as well as use of VOIP. The same thing happened during musharraf days and at that time there was talk in telecom circles of even banning VOIP products.

    Posted 8 months ago on 05 Oct 2012 13:16 #

  4. umertahir

    The calling rate from UK to Pakistan Landline are now from 7p to 10p from various networks.
    Because of which I can't speak to my parents for long. :(

    Posted 8 months ago on 08 Oct 2012 12:42 #

  5. Khan

    My senior friends tell me that they used to pay $3.15 per minute to make a call to Pakistan in the 80s. That would be equivalent to $8.00 per minute in today's Dollar value. Additionally, they had to wait for off-peak time for this cheaper rate and use their tiring finger to do repeated dialing.

    Posted 8 months ago on 09 Oct 2012 19:42 #

  6. Sharif Aadmi

    Adonis

    What i understand is that a tax has been increased. Isn't the case ?

    If its a tax that has been increased, it would require an amendment to finance bill. Please correct me if wrong.

    Posted 8 months ago on 09 Oct 2012 23:44 #

  7. Adonis

    Sharif Aaadmi

    No. It is not a tax. PTA approves a fee (call termination fee) for all incoming calls to Pakistan. This fee is given to the operator whose infrastructure is used for the incoming call. The largest infrastructure is of PTCL so it stands to gain the most from an increase in this fee.

    So no money will go to the government kitty as a result of this increase, only companies like PTCL will earn more.

    There were recommendations for reducing this fee as it was considered high. But defying all logic, under pressure from PTCL, the new Chairman PTA has approved a phenomenally high increase in such fee. This is why there is good chance of this decision being overturned if challenged in the court by affected parties.

    Posted 8 months ago on 10 Oct 2012 6:49 #

  8. EasyGo

    there is good chance of this decision being overturned if challenged in the court by affected parties.

    ======

    Think, the affected are expatriates and individuals, hence nobody is approaching the court.

    Posted 8 months ago on 10 Oct 2012 8:41 #

  9. Sharif Aadmi

    Then effectively speaking the heading of thread is misleading.

    I m bit lost. Is still PTCL the only company and has got monoply ?

    Posted 8 months ago on 10 Oct 2012 9:49 #

  10. khanamer

    ^^ When it comes to infrastructure, answer is yes!

    Posted 8 months ago on 10 Oct 2012 9:51 #

  11. Adonis

    PTCL is not the only company but it is the biggest company and owns most of the gateways which route incoming telecom traffic.

    Posted 8 months ago on 10 Oct 2012 10:07 #

  12. moahpaul

    You can still use calling cards for much cheaper. A good provider is Nobel and they charge only $0.079 (about €0.005) which is still affordable.

    Posted 8 months ago on 10 Oct 2012 15:39 #

  13. Dusky

    Is PTCL still a local entity or consider a subsidiary of Etisalat?

    Posted 8 months ago on 10 Oct 2012 19:51 #

  14. Khan

    Adonis,

    You can call it a fee or a tax. The fact of the matter is that this is a way for Zardari government to collect badly needed foreign exchange. The proof is that PTA did not increase the outgoing charges. Even though same infrastructure is used when a Pakistani subscriber makes an international call.

    This is not the first time it happened. Other governments did the same during Pressler sanctions in the 90s. This is a good indicator that Zardari is desperate for ForEx. Sell your Rupees and horde $$ if you are a currency speculator.

    Posted 8 months ago on 11 Oct 2012 0:08 #

  15. EasyGo

    Leader of House, Senator Jahangir Badar said the new tax was imposed by the Ministry of Information Technology after obtaining approval from the prime minister. He said it would curtail grey trafficking in the telecom sector and would also bring in revenue of $500 million every month. Main purpose of the imposition of the tax was to bring parity in call rates, he claimed.

    Leader of Opposition in Senate Ishaq Dar said the leader of House, who represents the prime minister, agreed with the call-attention mover, which meant that there was no clash on the issue and the tax should be withdrawn.

    http://propakistani.pk/2012/10/16/senators-oppose-ich-term-it-an-act-of-extortion/

    Posted 8 months ago on 16 Oct 2012 12:06 #

  16. Sharif Aadmi

    EasyGo

    It should be 500m RS . it can't be 500m $ per month.

    Posted 8 months ago on 16 Oct 2012 12:10 #

  17. LHR

    @SA
    try and pin this on PMLN as well somehow....very strange you havnt done it yet!

    Posted 8 months ago on 16 Oct 2012 12:34 #

  18. EasyGo

    You may be correct @Sharif Aadmi jee.

    In fact, this news has been sent by my phone company upon my complaint for service disconnection. I didn't see it yet through any other source.

    And yes, from the news it looks Govt is behind this increase. I also feel it counter productive as people will reduce calling instead of increasing their spending.

    Posted 8 months ago on 16 Oct 2012 12:40 #

  19. Adonis

    While the government is guilty for its negligence and collusion, the real culprits are PTCL and its cohort LDI operators. These 14 companies have made a cartel called 'International Clearing House (ICH)" which will get paid for all incoming telecom traffic to Pakistan. This cartel was approved by Ministry of IT and it then ordered PTA to grant its formal approval and increase the call landing charges.

    While PTA has increased the call landing charges by about 200%, this ICH cartel has increased its charges for incoming calls from 300-600% for calls originating from different countries. On top of that, due to this cartel all these companies will get a fixed share of revenue from incoming traffic without doing anything. It is likely that PTCL, being the biggest LDI will remain the only actual operator while the remaining LDI companies will get their share each month only for having an LDI license.

    Competition Commission of Pakistan had previously expressed its concern regarding creation of this ICH terming it as a cartel for price collusion. Lets see if it takes any action against it now.

    http://propakistani.pk/2012/05/09/ldi-operators-agree-to-implement-ich/

    Posted 8 months ago on 17 Oct 2012 6:26 #

  20. anasyounus

    The increase in rates is repealed I think

    Altaf Hussain was the first to congratulate nation on this ;)

    Posted 6 months ago on 04 Dec 2012 13:05 #

  21. Adonis

    So going to courts has worked. Govt went on back foot and finally relented.

    Posted 6 months ago on 04 Dec 2012 20:44 #

  22. junaid

    i heard the case is still pending in the courts ..

    Posted 6 months ago on 04 Dec 2012 21:11 #

  23. Rohail Taqi

    Posted 6 months ago on 04 Dec 2012 23:32 #

  24. azizi

    PTA Suspends Tax on International Incoming Calls

    Posted 6 months ago on 04 Dec 2012 23:59 #

  25. azizi

    No carrier in the USA or Canada has reduced the rates yet. Pre-tax-hike rates were 2.0 cents per minute from USA on average.

    as of today rates at:
    http://telephonepakistan.com/ .................... 9.9 cents
    http://www.localphone.com/call/pakistan ...... 8.9 cents
    http://www.inphonex.com/rates/ ................. 7.6 cents
    http://www.comwave.net/ ........................ 11.9 can cents

    Posted 6 months ago on 05 Dec 2012 0:09 #

  26. Adonis

    Actually wrong news report.

    Nothing has changed.

    Today is the case hearing in the court.

    However, in total contravention of Court's stay order, all LDI operators are still bringing traffic only through PTCL at the exorbitant rates.

    I don't know why the news spread across all channel but it was just a rumor and no rate reduction has been done on Govt's part.

    Posted 6 months ago on 05 Dec 2012 4:10 #

  27. EasyGo

    It is strange, as per news notification is issued.

    So what is reality, no notification or no action on the notification.

    Posted 6 months ago on 05 Dec 2012 8:42 #

  28. anasyounus

    Actually wrong news report.

    Nothing has changed.

    الطاف بھائی کی قوم کو دی ہوئی مبارکباد کا کیا ہوگا ؟؟

    ویسے تو اس خبر پر قوم کو مل کر الطاف بھائی کو مبارک باد دینی چاہیے تھی ، آخر کو اورسیز پاکستانیوں میں سب سے زیادہ اس کمی کا فائدہ الطاف بھائی کو ہی ہونا تھا
    ;) :)

    Posted 6 months ago on 05 Dec 2012 10:40 #

  29. Adonis

    "ICH Case in LHC: No Relief for Overseas Callers Yet"

    http://propakistani.pk/2012/12/05/ich-case-in-lhc-no-relief-to-overseas-callers-yet/

    Posted 6 months ago on 05 Dec 2012 10:51 #

  30. Khan

    Supreme Court upheld tax on incoming international phone calls

    Another slap of SC on overseas Pakistanis?

    http://tribune.com.pk/story/510517/tax-on-incoming-international-phone-calls-is-here-to-stay/

    Posted 3 months ago on 21 Feb 2013 14:14 #

  31. Sharif Aadmi

    Khan jee
    so , SC should stop all tax collection. I think pakistani residing in pakistani pay bulk of taxes collected by state . Isnt ?

    Posted 3 months ago on 22 Feb 2013 7:57 #

  32. wazirabadi

    Does anyone know the latest status of this important matter?

    Posted 1 week ago on 06 Jun 2013 16:00 #

  33. Adonis

    as directed by Supreme Court, the Competition Commission heard the case. It has declared the cartel of ICH as illegal. This should now result in decrease of rates.

    Posted 1 week ago on 06 Jun 2013 16:56 #

  34. EasyGo

    Adonis Bhai,

    Think, it is three weeks since Competition Commission has given their final verdict on ICH, but still not implemented. May be defendants has time for right of appeal.

    Posted 1 week ago on 06 Jun 2013 19:07 #

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