In a major development, Google Play Store services will continue to be available in Pakistan amid fears that users will not be able to get the paid services of Google Play Store from December 1 (today) after the State Bank of Pakistan last suspended the direct carrier billing (DCB) mechanism.
According to the details, the Ministry of Finance has agreed to release blocked payments to international service providers including tech giant Google. The Ministry of Finance has agreed to a proposal of Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque with regard to evolving an effective mechanism and making payment against the Google App services.
Read more: Google to soon begin operations in Pakistan
In a statement, IT Minister Aminul Haque said payments can be made as per the schedule. He said the central bank has been directed to delay the implementation of the policy for a month and telecos have been given one-month time to implement the payment procedures”.
The minister expressed gratitude to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Bajwa for the timely decision on the issue.
— Ministry of IT & Telecom (@MoitOfficial) December 1, 2022
The minister sprang into action after reports emerged that paid services of the Google Play Store would not be available to users in Pakistan from Dec 1 as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had blocked $34 million in payments to the international service providers by suspending direct carrier billing (DCB) mechanism.
Moreover, the news report also came at a time when Google is ready to begin its operations in Pakistan. PML-N Senator Afnan Ullah had earlier revealed that a delegation of Google will visit Pakistan on December 11 to start operations. The platform will also provide 15,000 scholarships to Pakistani citizens after starting operations in Pakistan.
Later, the central bank rejected media reports about holding certain payments to Google as “baseless and misleading”. The SBP explained that it had taken some steps to facilitate the domestic entities due to violations committed by Telcos.
Read more: Netizens raise alarm as Google Play services to become unavailable in Pakistan