ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has agreed to unblock payments to foreign service providers, including Google, in order to prevent the impending suspension of Google Play Store paid services in Pakistan.
Aminul Haque, the minister for information technology and telecommunication, said so while addressing the media after his conversation with the appropriate officials.
When news broke that paid Google Play Store services wouldn’t be available to Pakistani users starting on December 1, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reportedly banned $34 million in payments by halting the direct carrier billing (DCB) method.
Later, the central bank refuted media claims that it was withholding some payments to Google, calling them “baseless and deceptive.”
The SBP noted that due to violations by Telcos, it has taken several actions to assist the domestic firms. According to Mr. Haque, the SBP has been instructed by the finance minister to release payments to service providers on time.
“The central bank has also been ordered to delay for one month the most recent policy on payments for premium services on the Google Play Store.”
He added that Telcos have also been given a month to put the new payment system in place in accordance with the SBP’s guidelines. Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, received praise from the IT minister for his prompt decision.
