Pakistan may not be able to pay for Google apps

Business Desk
ISLAMABAD: On the telecom operators’ concerns over the blocking of payment to Google, Federal Information Technology and Telecommunication Minister Aminul Haque on Tuesday said a letter had been sent to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar expressing reservations over the move.
In a statement, Haque added that a few days ago, all telecom operators had penned a letter to his ministry, expressing their concerns over the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) blocking payment by users to Google.
He further said considering the seriousness of the matter, all stakeholders were consulted and it was decided to convey these concerns to the finance minister through a letter.
“The telecom sector is already in dire straits and such decisions would make matters worse for it,” the statement quoted him as saying. The minister clarified that the blocking of payment would only cause paid Google Play applications to be suspended.
“The free applications will continue to work,” he added.
However, Haque noted blocking payment to international companies could dent the country’s reputation.
He further said that the users, who used paid applications, could face immense difficulties.
Haque demanded that Dar should immediately take notice of the matter and direct the SBP to lift the ban on Google payments through mobile phones.
“It is essential that the IT and telecom ministry is taken on board while making such decisions in the future,” the statement quoted the minister as saying.
Google Play Store services will no longer be available to Pakistani users after December 1 as the central bank has suspended the direct carrier billing (DCB) mechanism.
Users would be able to download the apps but won’t be able to pay for them except through debit and credit cards. The other alternative for such payments is the DCB, which involves payment using mobile balance. The DCB exists because of the lack of international digital payment methods to pay for various apps.
“It is pertinent to mention here that we all understand the prevailing challenge of worsening economic conditions of the country and thus are open to working in an amicable way with the Regulator (SBP); as we are already working with them in case of the telecom sector imports related transactions to navigate through these testing times,” read a letter sent by the telecom companies to the SBP.
However, the central bank has refuted the reports that certain payments to Google were stuck at the SBP, claiming they were “baseless” and “misleading”.
“[The] SBP strongly refutes all such assertions. The fact is that in order to facilitate the domestic entities, [the] SBP specified certain information technology-related services, which such entities can acquire from abroad for their own use and make foreign exchange payments there against up to $100,000 per invoice. Such services include satellite transponder, international bandwidth/internet/private line services, software license/maintenance/support, and service to use electronic media and databases,” the central bank said in a statement.