Pakistan seizes smuggled Indian, other DTH equipment worth Rs. 7.83cr
Pakistan authorities have seized smuggled Indian and other Direct-To-Home (DTH) equipment worth Rs. 7.83 crore from various markets in a nation-wide crackdown against the illegal devices, revealed a report. The report was submitted to the Supreme Court yesterday after it took up a suo motu case relating to the easy availability of Indian DTH or magic box in the Pakistani market. Here's more.
30 FIRs lodged, 39 arrested during nationwide crackdown
A two-judge bench headed by Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan was also told that 30 FIRs had been lodged during the crackdown and 39 people were arrested by the Customs Department and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The report, which was presented by Additional Attorney General Nayyar Abbas Rizvi, said the nationwide enforcement-operations have ended the commercial sale and availability of smuggled DTH-equipment in the local markets.
Court had constituted a committee to curb the DTH smuggling
During the last hearing, the apex court had constituted a committee consisting of a member of customs, the FIA's additional director general and a member of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to find out the source of smuggled goods and stop it.
Because of FBR, contraband-items worth Rs. 24.8bn seized in 2017-18
The report recalled that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has also enhanced enforcement measures adopted by the customs field formations, which resulted in seizures of goods and other contraband items, including DTH equipment worth Rs. 24.8bn during 2017-18. However, the report also conceded that apart from enforcement measures, a holistic strategy needs to be worked out by all agencies/regulators to address this issue.
Committee proposed measures like granting concession from import duty
The committee proposed measures like PEMRA's suggestion to grant concessions from duty or taxes for the import of equipment and other accessories to successful bidders in awarding of DTH licenses. In absence of local DTH, subscribers were opting for illegal means, including Indian DTH services.
Plans to block Illegal websites advertising Indian DTH in Pakistan
The PEMRA has also suggested a technological solution that can effectively disrupt the reception and rebroadcast of Indian content using smuggled DTH equipment, the report said. However, the report called for support from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for blocking the internet protocols addresses of the websites, which were either running the illegal C-Line/CC-CAM or advertising the illegal Indian DTH in Pakistan.
