ISLAMABAD: Despite multiple assurances from Federal Minister for IT & Telecom Syed Aminul Haque, Google has suspended the purchase of carrier-paid apps in Pakistan.
Ministry of IT & Telecom (MoITT) confirms the news that Google temporarily halted the purchase of carrier-paid apps in Pakistan due to the non-payment of $34 million dues.
Last week, the State Bank of Pakistan suspended $34 million payments to the international service providers such as Google, Amazon, and Meta etc., and the Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) that resulted in the suspension of the carrier-paid apps in Pakistan.
However, Aminul Haque told that the telecom operators are given a one-month time to implement the payment procedure. Moreover, He also informed that within a month time period, Ministry of IT, Ministry of Finance, and State Bank of Pakistan will devise a plan of action to resolve the issue.
Syed Aminul Haque earlier proposed the plan for payment of the dues to Google. The propositions were accepted and praised by the Ministry of Finance.
The Minister of Finance told that the SBP is instructed to delay the suspension of DCB mechanism by one month.
CEO Jazz Aamir Hafeez in his tweet praised the efforts of Aminul Haque and also thanked Ishaq Dar and Tariq Bajwa for working towards resolving the issue.
He tweeted: “Relieved to see the DCB issue progressing towards a resolution. Thank you Syed Amin-ul-Haque and Thank you Ishaq Dar & SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa for ensuring Google Play apps remain available to Pakistani users. A whole-of-government approach is needed to strengthen the digital ecosystem.”
