ISLAMABAD: Google has suspended the purchase of carrier-paid apps in Pakistan via mobile phone owing to nonpayment of outstanding dues, held after the central bank shut down the mechanism of payment, the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom (MoITT) confirmed Friday.
The MoITT said it would be a temporary suspension.
The dreaded suspension comes in the face of repeated assurances by the Minister of IT Aminul Haque.
A day earlier, on Haque’s advice, the Ministry of Finance approved to release of blocked payments to the international service providers, including Google.
During the suspension, users can only download paid apps on Google Play Store through credit card.
“This issue will be resolved within two weeks,” the IT ministry officials said.
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The federal IT minister had instructed the authorities to resolve the matter as soon as possible, the officials of the Ministry of IT said.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) suspended payment of $34 million to the international service providers, which could have rendered inbound mobile users unable to download paid Google Play Store services using their mobile balance as a source of payment from December 1, 2022, onwards.
A $34 million payment to the international service providers like Google, Amazon and Meta was suspended after the SBP discontinued the direct carrier billing (DCB) mechanism.
