The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have collaborated to create a new integrated system for overseas Pakistanis that allows them to use their imported mobile phones for 120 days.
According to sources, a meeting was recently held at the FBR Headquarters to finalise the new system. Officials from the PTA and the FIA also attended the meeting. The new system would allow the FIA, FBR, and PTA to exchange data.
Data would be exchanged between the FBR, the FIA, and the PTA via connectivity. The new system would be linked to the FIA’s record of passenger entry and exit.
The system connection would be available in real time with the FIA’s passenger data. With the help of technology integration, the new system also checks for abuse of the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System.
The new system is an updated or enhanced version of the existing Identification Registration and Blocking System.
At the moment, overseas Pakistanis have 60 days to use an imported phone with one SIM.
After 60 days, the phone is no longer functional unless he pays the required taxes to regularize the device.
Under the new system, overseas Pakistanis would be assigned a single mobile phone number.
Foreigners can register their phones using their passport numbers, which are linked to FIA data. Each person can register one number, and his or her SIM card will be linked to this system.
For a period of 120 days, he can use the same phone and reactivate the same number each time he visits Pakistan using the entry/exit data of immigration staff.
If a passenger returns six times, he can use the same SIM and phone by reactivating the data with the help of the FIA’s entry/exit record.
To read our blog on “Govt. launches Job Portal For Jobless Overseas Pakistanis,” click here.