Despite repeated assurances from the Ministry of IT and Telecom, Google onFriday suspended carrier-paid apps in Pakistan on nonpayment of outstandingdues.
According to the 24News HD TV channel, the download option for paid appsvia mobile phone accounts has been suspended in the country.
Reportedly this suspension only applies to local transactions and theGoogle Play Store still accepts credit card payments when downloading apaid app.
Last week, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had blocked US$34 million inpayments to Foreign Service providers. Due to the SBP’s decision, numerouspeople were prevented from downloading paid Google Play Store apps usingtheir mobile balance as a form of payment, which caused pandemonium in thelocal tech industry.
When the central bank stopped the direct carrier billing (DCB) system, allthe payments made through mobile operators to Foreign Service providerslike Google, Amazon, and Meta became stuck.
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In light of the nation’s recent economic problems, the governmentsubsequently decided to allow Google transactions for a month whilesimultaneously establishing a framework for a reliable payment system toprevent any liquidity shortages.
Now, the Federal Ministry of Finance has agreed to the proposal of ITMinister Amin Ul Haque to evolve a mechanism and make payments againstGoogle App services. Anyhow, the IT minister at the time also said that theSBP had been directed to delay the implementation of the DCB mechanismpolicy for a month.
Amin Ul Haque stated that the telecom providers had been given a month toadopt payment procedures.
