TAHIR AMIN

ISLAMABAD: Mobile phones import witnessed a nominal growth of 0.4% growth in the first five months of current fiscal year (July-November) 2018-19 as it remained $304.651 million compared to $303.450 million during the same period last year.

Mobile phone imports in November 2018, which stood at $44.238 million, registered 24.04 percent negative growth as compared to $58.242 million imports in November 2017. Last month’s figure was lower by 27.7 percent when compared to $61.189 million in October 2018. These figures were revealed in the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Overall telecom imports saw a decline of 3.14 percent during July-November 2018 when compared to the same period of last year. Total imports were recorded at $545.92 million during this period when compared to $563.634 million in July-November 2017, while registering a 14.21 percent negative growth in November 2018. This figure stood at $97.390 million in November as compared to $119.989 million during October 2018.

Other telecom apparatus imports witnessed a phenomenal decline of over 7.27 percent in July-November 2018 as it stood at $241.269 million against $260.184 million during the same period of last year. When compared to October 2018, other telecom apparatus imports registered 3.85 percent negative growth as it was $53.152 million compared to $58.80 million in October 2018.

However according to market sources mobile phones in a huge quantity worth million of dollars are being smuggled to the country, evading duties and taxes, which results in huge loss to the national exchequer. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has estimated to increase revenue from import of mobile devices by around $200 million annually after the implementation of the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS). The DIRBS implementation is expected to generate additional revenue, besides helping in reducing security challenges.

To curtail the counterfeit mobile phone usage, discourage mobile phones theft and protect consumer interest and in line with Telecom policy 2015, issued by Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom, PTA has developed/established DIRBS at PTA premises and under implementation since 1st December, 2018.

The system will contribute towards improved law and order within the country by negating narrative of mobile snatching and stealing. It will also improve the quality of service of cellular mobile operators as well as discourage the counterfeit devices, fake IMEIs and duplicate IMEIs on mobile network, official added.