LAHORE: Telecom operators on Thursday urged the government to withdraw its decision to impose extra taxes on the telecom sector in the forthcoming budget.

“Taxation on telecom sector in Pakistan is already one of the highest in the world. Imposing additional taxes in the form of Federal Excise Duty (FED) and General Sales Tax (GST) on the data/internet services only a year after the 3G/4G spectrum auction will not only hamper economic growth but also adversely impact government’s initiative for the proliferation of mobile broadband in the country,” a joint statement by the cellular companies read.

“We strongly believe that it will slow down the growth of 3G and 4G technologies in the country. The proposed taxation on data services will also have a negative impact on the 3G/4G networks rollout/expansion including future spectrum auction plans by the cellular operators and may also negatively impact their shareholders’ future investment decisions in country,” it said.

A telecom company official said the subscribers would also face the brunt of additional tax on the data/internet services.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2015

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