The Punjab government has decided in principle to impose 19.5 per cent tax on Internet use by mobile phone consumers this week, however the tax will not apply on Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
According to media reports, the Punjab government’s decision has drawn severe public criticism, as people accuse the government of going back on its assurance that no such tax will be imposed on the people.
According to a report in Dawn, Punjab Revenue Authority Chairman Dr Raheel Siddique said the criticism on the new tax was uncalled for because the tax is also imposed in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Punjab government on May 28 had introduced 19.5pc tax on broadband internet connection of Rs 1,500 above and 2 Mbps above speed through SRO. The digital publishers and bloggers had launched a ‘blackout’ campaign to prevent the government from implementing this tax.
Punjab Finance Minister Dr Aysha Ghaus-Pasha announced during her budget speech that this tax had been withdrawn and a decision to the effect was taken in the cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
“This tax will be additional burden on the largest subscriber base residing in Punjab which includes 3G/4G users and mobile internet users with total share of more than 56pc of the overall country’s subscriber base,” a telecom analyst told the newspaper.
He said it appeared that the Punjab government ‘smartly waited for an appropriate time’ to levy this tax. “On the one hand, the Punjab government is luring the youth by distributing laptops and, on the other, has imposed huge Internet taxes,” he said, adding the courts in Sindh and KP had stayed the collection of the Internet taxes.
Information Communication Technology Think Tank (ICT3) President Sohaib Sheikh told the paper that tax on growing next generation technology would not go well for the industry when it was in a process of increasing their data customers. “The immense potential and opportunity that is directly linked with the 3G/4G growth and data usage will sadly be hampered and it will also effect the licensing of 3G/4G license that is to be auctioned,” he said.
