State Bank of Pakistan bans online payments for Indian content

Islamabad, November 13

The State Bank of Pakistan has banned online payments for electronic media content from India with immediate effect, a media report said on Friday.

"We are in receipt of a letter from the cabinet division, Government of Pakistan, whereby they have instructed to stop different modes of payments, including credit cards, for subscribing (to) Indian Content in Pakistan, including Zee5 video-on-demand service," Dawn news reported citing a circular issued on November 9.

"In this regard, it is advised to ensure meticulous compliance of aforementioned instructions of Government of Pakistan and submit compliance status to SBP (by) November 13, 2020," it added.

Regarding the development, former chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Absar Alam said that Indian content has already been banned in Pakistan, so the new circular could hit online payments for Direct to Home (DTH) service.

He said those who have DTH facility are mostly using Indian content and they make online payments.

"Now the subscriber cannot pay directly from Pakistan, but the Indian provider can get payments from other countries like the United Arab Emirates," Alam added.

--IANS