ISLAMABD, Pakistan: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday issued a stay order till May 27, 2024 preventing the federal government from blocking mobile phone SIMs of tax non-filers.
The IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq led the proceedings of the petition filed by the private telecom operator Zong.
Last Friday, the telecom operators agreed to initiate the manual blocking process of the SIMs of non-filers in small batches until their systems were fully equipped to automate it.
On April 30, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) issued the Income Tax General Order (ITGO) to disable the mobile phone SIMs of 506,671 persons who were not appearing on the active taxpayer list but are liable to file the Income Tax Returns for Tax Year 2023 under the provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance.
During the course of hearing in the IHC, the petitioner’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja argued that the amendment in the law violates the fundamental right to business freedom enshrined in Article 18 of the Constitution.
Advocate Salman Akram Raja further argued that the Companies would face a loss of Rs 1 billion annually if more than 500,000 SIMs were blocked.
The High Court sought a response from respondents by May 27.
 on Tuesday issued a stay order till May 27, 2024 preventing the federal government from blocking mobile phone SIMs of tax non-filers.){kind=link}