KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is considering one-time amnesty scheme for mobile phones smuggled into the country’s market.
Customs Enforcement South has proposed an amnesty scheme be introduced to legalize the mobile phones that have reached the markets without payment of duty and taxes.
A large number of mobile phones are smuggled into the country and several mobile markets are flooded with such non-duty/tax paid phones. It may be mentioned here that used mobile phones are banned to be imported in the country, and these used used/refurbished phone sets are smuggled into the country
Customs plans to setup a database where the authority as well as service providers could confirm the legality of mobile phones through the IMEI number, before activating the service.
Mobile importers and traders in possession of non-duty paid goods could pay the legitimate duty along with marginal fine and the IMEI numbers of these phones would be added into the database, hence legalizing them.
Investigations as part of FBR’s anti-smuggling campaign have identified markets housing the smuggled commodities. Subsequently, raids were conducted by the Customs enforcement staff, but the same were miserable failed as shop owners and markets associations created law & order situation.
An official said the office bearers of various markets associations including Idrees Memon and Rizwan negotiated with Assistant Collector ASO Raza Naqvi and agreed to pay the duty and taxes but the approval certification certificate from Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) was the problem as Customs could not receive duty without PTA’s certificate.
If the proposed scheme is implemented PTA’s certificate would not be required and Customs would upload a database of the IMEI numbers of duty-paid phones, the rest would be useless.
There may be millions of smuggled phones in the country’s markets and we can not seize them nor can arrest every shop owner. Amnesty is the only option to realize revenue as happened in the case of smuggled vehicles.