Dealers reject tax on used mobile phones

PESHAWAR: The All Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Action Committee Mobile Phones Association on Monday rejected tax on used mobile phone sets and asked the government for verification of blocked phones through amnesty scheme to unblock them, saying the sought-after action will help to prevent losses.

Speaking at a news conference here at Peshawar Press Club, the association representatives Hamadullah said the government’s move to impose 10 percent tax on used mobiles like the new mobile phones was completely unjust and would be a serious blow to the mobile phone business in the country.

Hamadullah said the dealers had suffered huge financial losses due to the blocking of the imported mobile phones. He said that 80 percent of mobiles were registered and blocking the rest 20 percent would be really unfair.

He asked the government to find a solution for the blocked mobile phones through type and tag system. Accompanied by dealers Arshad Shahzad, Pir Usman, Zeeshan, Sardar Sahab Singh, Ashfaq and Jehanzeb Khan and others, he claimed that the government’s move was meant to remove the used mobile phones from the market and imposing taxes on them to create space for some other mobile companies.

Hamad said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had so far blocked used mobiles phones in large number. The association president said that on the one hand, the government had promised to create employment opportunities but on the other, it had taken steps to close down the established business, which would create mass unemployment in the country. “The government should devise a solid economic policy to strengthen the existing business instead of forcing them to close down,” he said.