Deadline for verification of SIMs not to be extended

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman Syed Ismail Shah said on Friday that the deadline for biometric verification of subscribers’ identity modules (SIMs) will expire on April 12 and no further extension will be given.

Addressing a ceremony in Lahore, Shah said 70.7 million SIMs had so far been verified whereas 15.5 million SIMs had been blocked. He said all unverified SIMs would be blocked after April 12.

While commenting on use of Afghan SIMS in Pakistan, the PTA chief said the matter had been conveyed to Afghan government and help was being sought from the International Telecom Union to block them.

Answering a question, he said that authorities were working on a legislation regarding restoration of Youtube. He hoped that the matter would be resolved soon.