The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology has launched a scathing attack on the Federal Board of Revenue's (FBR) heavy-handed taxation of the e-commerce sector, demanding urgent relief to nurture Pakistan's burgeoning digital economy. Chaired by Senator Palwasha Khan, the committee also scrutinized the broader regulatory landscape, including a recent 15% quarterly tariff hike by telecom giant Jazz, sanctioned under Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) rules.
During the session, the PTA chairman revealed that Jazz and Telenor saw profits in 2024, in stark contrast to Zong and Ufone, which reported losses. He pledged the PTA’s support for telecom operators but faced a barrage of complaints about substandard services across the country. A key hurdle highlighted was a long-standing spectrum allocation dispute from 1995—a "major impediment" to industry growth that has gone unresolved for decades. Senator Khan called for swift action, summoning the Attorney General, Frequency Allocation Board, PEMRA, and FBR to the next meeting to address the crisis.
Lawmakers also voiced concerns over specific service failures. Senator Nadeem Bhutto highlighted the lack of cellular coverage in interior Sindh during power outages, attributing it to telecom companies' inadequate backup facilities. Others pressed for uninterrupted service in remote, underserved regions. The committee also took on misinformation, debunking a false social media claim about an Egyptian lawmaker's appointment to Pakistan's AI policy advisory group. The Ministry of Information Technology was tasked with investigating the source of the disinformation.
Officials from the Universal Service Fund (USF) reported 4,206 operational sites nationwide, with 22 towers in Gwadar. However, members urged for even greater expansion into neglected areas. Senator Humayun Mohmand pointed to frustratingly poor mobile service on Islamabad highways and in residential zones, citing security jammers as the cause and pushing for an immediate solution.
