Committee set up to curb mobile phone smuggling

As the pressure grows to stop the smuggling of mobile phones, the government is set to devise a mechanism with the help of private sector stakeholders. On Feb 12, Anwaarul Haq Kakar, the former caretaker prime minister, took the first step in this regard by establishing a Mobile Phone Smuggling Committee headed by the DG Reforms and Automation Customs Department. The customs department has written letters to Telecom Operators Association (TOA) Chairman Amir Ibrahim and Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association (PMPMA) Senior Vice Chairman Muzzafar Paracha to nominate their members to the committee. The local mobile makers have also been critical of the rising smuggling of cell phones and the abuse of the Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) introduced by the PTA.