WEB DESK: Pakistan Customs collected Rs 54 billion during last year in duty on mobile imports all handsets were registered through Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS).
The official figures claimed the percentage to be 145% higher than the last year.
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) data showed that the surge in revenue from the imports of mobile handsets was owing to restrictions on non-duty paid or smuggled phones.
As per restrictions, the electronic gadgets could not be brought into use in Pakistan without clearing all taxes and registration with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
Pakistan Customs and PTA had jointly introduced DIRBS to shun the practice of purchase and sell of smuggled cellphones in the country.
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The measure has opened gates for new investments in the mobile manufacturing industry in Pakistan.
Customs officials said that 17 companies were now manufacturing mobile handsets in the country.
They added that adding that TCL, a Chinese multinational electronics company, also plans to invest in the indigenous mobile manufacturing industry. Alcatel is also mulling the same.
FBR data showed that as many as 1,389,707 cellphones were brought by the travelers into the country during FY20 under baggage rule. They got their devices registered with DIRBs.
This helped Pakistan customs in raising more than Rs 5.8 billion in the last year.
The commercial imports of mobile handsets raked in Rs 39.414 billion in revenue during FY20.
Some 19.80 million cellphones were imported into Pakistan with a net value of Rs 209.316 billion.