Pakistan is currently suffering from a crisis and is already in the stage of development. The situation is tense in every aspect and if it is about technology, then Pakistan is suffering from a lot of depression.
If we look at the basis of this, the reason for the crisis in technology is that Pakistan is one of the adopters of technology from the beginning and not among the inventors.
And if we talk about the present, political issues and instability in the country are responsible for the current situation.
Major Problems regarding Technology:
1) PTA Taxes:
Since January 2019, PTA ( Pakistan Telecommunication Authority ) has imposed taxes and duties on imported mobile phones and other electronic devices.
Initially, this seems to be beneficial for Pakistan as most of the companies set up their manufacturing industries in Pakistan to avoid these taxes. Because of this step, many unemployed citizens of Pakistan got good-paying jobs.
But due to inflation and increase in taxes, these companies started shutting down their industries in Pakistan.
Assessment of 7C Report: PTA taxes are very high nowadays, and in fact are more than the actual price of the phone. Due to this scenario, Pakistanis are using their phone without paying taxes and industries are closed.
Technology is becoming increasingly difficult to use and citizens are not satisfied. When the government is unable to look after the interests of the citizens, the country itself suffers degradation in major aspects.
2) Import ban:
Import of any product into Pakistan is prohibited whether it is household products, food, electronic equipment, machinery or transport vehicles etc. The government’s concern is that: the country is already volatile and dollar reserves are dwindling.
The effect on citizens is that they are unable to import spare parts to repair their vehicles, appliances etc. Companies that usually deal in imported products are closed, as are car manufacturers.
Due to this import ban, unemployment and a decline in industrial development are the major problems. Smuggling of goods is on the rise, with some businesses operating illegally.
Assessment of 7C report: Ban culture should be boycotted, we have faced many consequences by banning many things in the past. There must be a reasonable way to solve problems. Avoiding the misuse and negative effects of imports in Pakistan, the government banned them. There should be a clear, defined and effective law regarding imports so that the problem is solved without harming the interest of the citizens.
3) Politics and technology:
Any disturbance in the political situation leads to the shutdown of social media applications and the Internet. Without knowing the fact that most of the businesses like Careem, foodpanda, in-drive etc are working on the Internet and social media applications.
In this era of technology where the internet is like oxygen. Which usually got banned or closed in Pakistan due to political issues. People have nothing to do with politics. But in times of crisis, citizens are crushed by this culture of closure and restriction.
Assessment of 7C report: Political issues should be table solved. The problems of the government should be resolved without restricting and banning any kind of technology. After all, it is not good for the country either.