IHC restrains govt from blocking SIMs of non-filers

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) stopped the government from blocking the mobile phone SIMs of non-filers on Tuesday.

Hearing the petition of mobile phone companies, IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq issued a stay order on the petition against the government’s decision to block the SIM cards of non-filers till May 27.

Senior lawyer Salman Akram Raja appeared before Islamabad High Court as the counsel of mobile phone companies.

It should be noted that an agreement has been reached between the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and telecom operators on the issue of blocking the SIMs of non-filers across the country, under which the series of blocking the SIMs of non-filers has started from May 10.

READ MORE: SIM cards of 3,500 users not filing tax returns blocked; Details inside

On Saturday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blocked the SIM cards of 3,500 customers who did not submit tax returns and issued warnings to another 5,000 non-filers.