FBR Unblocks SIMs for 103,000 After Tax Returns Filed
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has restored mobile SIMs for 103,000 individuals who recently filed their tax returns, as confirmed by official documents.
These documents also show that FBR had previously blocked 265,000 SIMs belonging to those who hadn’t filed their income tax returns.
In May, FBR established a Joint Working Group (JWG) with tax officials and telecom operators to implement the Income Tax General Order (ITGO) No. 1 of 2024, aimed at managing the SIM blocking process for non-filers.
FBR had initially provided a list of 506,671 non-filers to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and telecom operators for immediate action. Although there was some initial hesitation from the PTA and telecom companies, they eventually agreed to proceed with the SIM blockades in stages after several discussions with FBR.
