Breaking: FBR Freezes Mobilink’s Bank Accounts: ProPakistani

Breaking: FBR Freezes Mobilink’s Bank Accounts
Samsung Galaxy S3 to Hit Stores Next Week at PKR 62,000
Online Vehicle Verification System for Karachi / Sindh Launched
Jazz Introduces New Mobile Internet Bundles

Breaking: FBR Freezes Mobilink’s Bank Accounts

Posted: 24 May 2012 01:57 AM PDT

Federal Board of Revenue, authority responsible for collection of taxes, has attached all bank accounts of Mobilink, while blocking all imports for the company, said a statement issued by FBR today.

Statement said Pakistan Mobile Communication Ltd (Mobilink) owed Rs. 8.6 billion to the exchequer on account of mis-declaration of Sales Tax and FED, for which Mobilink had appealed the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal for a hold.

However, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal recently upheld the decision of LTU, Islamabad and confirmed the payable tax amount of 8.6 billion rupees.

On receiving the decision of the Tribunal, Syed Ijaz Hussain, Chief Commissioner, LTU, Islamabad formed various teams of officers headed by Commissioner, LTU, Malik Muhammad Ashraf to recover the amount from the company through attachment of Bank accounts, blocking of imports and recovery through suppliers of the company, which include other telecom companies as well as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

Mobilink said that it is in process of evaluating the situation, and their clarification on the development will come in a while. We will update the story when we get any word from Mobilink.

Sources close to FBR said that authority will now de-attach accounts only after recovering taxes and owed funds from Mobilink. FBR had carried out a similar operation for collection of taxes from PTA last year.

FBR statement confirmed that, as of today, all Bank Accounts of the Company have been attached and imports blocked accordingly.

FBR will take any further action on next working day, the statement said.

Mobilink’s Viewpoint on the Matter:

Responding to FBR’s action, Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (Mobilink) has clarified that the FBR's ruling on Sales Tax and FED is sub-judice.

Mobilink in its statement said that company is one of the largest corporate tax payers in Pakistan, and has always remained at the forefront of making its due contribution to the nation's exchequer.

Mobilink said that it paid PKR 34 billion as taxes in 2011 alone.

“Over its 17 year history of operations, Mobilink has remained committed to Pakistan, and respectful of all laws, including tax laws, which govern over Pakistan”, Mobilink’s statement concluded.

Samsung Galaxy S3 to Hit Stores Next Week at PKR 62,000

Posted: 24 May 2012 01:50 AM PDT

Samsung has announced that it's flagship device, Samsung Galaxy S III will be available in Pakistan on May 31st, 2012.

Like we anticipated, Samsung has said that price for Galaxy S3 will be PKR. 62,000.

Samsung Galaxy S III, the next big thing from Samsung, which is said to have broken all previous records for pre-orders, was unveiled earlier this month.

Samsung, in a statement, said it has made all arrangements necessary to start shipping for Galaxy S3 in Pakistan on May 31st, that's along with global launch for the device. Samsung Galaxy S3 will be available on Teletec stores, countrywide.

Samsung Galaxy S III comes with 4.8 inch Super AMOLED HD screen (1280 x 720) on a minimal design with Samsung's conventional plastic pack. On hardware front, Galaxy S III is equipped with 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos 4 Quad processor.

Samsung Galaxy S3 2ill be powered by Android 4.0.4 or Ice Cream Sandwich at the time of shipment next week.

Here is a rundown of Galaxy S3's Specifications:

Specifications:

Here is a run down of complete specifications for Galaxy S3:

Network:
- 2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE): 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
- 3G (HSPA＋ 21Mbps): 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
- 4G (Dependent on market)
Display: 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED (1280×720) display
OS: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Camera
- Main(Rear): 8 Mega pixel Auto Focus camera with Flash & Zero Shutter Lag
- Sub (Front): 1.9 Mega pixel camera, HD recording @30fps with Zero Shutter Lag
- Recording & Playback: Full HD (1080p)
Connectivity:
- WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi HT40
- GPS/GLONASS
- NFC
- Bluetooth® 4.0(LE)
Sensor: Accelerometer, RGB light, Digital compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer
Memory: 16/ 32GB User memory (64GB available soon) ＋ microSD slot (up to 64GB)
Dimension: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, 133g
Battery: 2,100 mAh

You can read more on Samsung Galaxy S3 in our earlier coverage here.

Online Vehicle Verification System for Karachi / Sindh Launched

Posted: 23 May 2012 09:49 PM PDT

Excise and Taxation Department of Sindh has launched an online portal for verification of vehicles in Sindh, including Karachi. Tipped by Asad Memom, a ProPakistani reader, it appears that portal is just launched with no official announcement.

You can access the online vehicle verification for Sindh / Karachi here:

http://www.excise.gos.pk/portal/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=84

You may call it bad SEO or bad URL naming, but that is how it is.

You are suppose to enter the Registration No of your car/vehicle and portal will return you with sufficient information about your vehicle. Which, according to some, is privacy invasion. They believe that such information shouldn't be kept online – just because it can land into wrong hands for misuse.

Let's take an example of of this advert for a Honda Civic car on a classified website, which has pictures of the car available as well. We got the plate number from the pictures and entered it into online vehicle verification system.

Here was the registration number: AB-3243

While below is the information returned by verification system:

As apparent from above screen shot, Some vehicle owners, may not want to get their information displayed publicly on internet – while others may find it a good, easy and timely solution for verifying the status of their cars.

It merits mentioning here that there is no personal information provided by online vehicle verification system, rather it displays only the necessary information about the vehicle and the owner's name.

It maybe recalled that Punjab has online vehicle verification system as well. It can be accessed here: http://mtmis.punjab.gov.pk/

Jazz Introduces New Mobile Internet Bundles

Posted: 23 May 2012 09:32 PM PDT

jazz internet Jazz Introduces New Mobile Internet Bundles Competition for Internet Bundles is high – we know it. This is probably why Mobilink has introduced new Mobile Internet Bundles, including: Daily, Weekly, Monthly bundles along with a late night offer.

There bundles can be availed by both Jazz and Jazba prepaid customers.

Highlight of the bundles is daily internet bundle, which comes at Rs. 9.99 per day (including tax) and offers 200 MB of download/upload limit.

Then there is a late night offer as well, with 200 MB data limit it is priced at PKR 3.99 (including taxes).

Check below tariff for details:

Jazz (Prepaid) GPRS Charges

Sr..	GPRS Bundle	Price-PKR	MBs	Validity Period	Time Window	To Subscribe, Dial
1	Jazz GPRS Daily Bundle²	9.99	Unlimited⁴	24 Hrs	N/A	1141#
2	Weekly GPRS Bundle³	39.99	40	7 Days	N/A	1147#
3	Monthly GPRS Bundle³	99.99	200	30 Days	N/A	11430#
4	Late Night Offer	3.99	Unlimited⁴	1 Day	12:00 a.m. – 08:00 a.m.	1142#

1. Tax is not applicable on GPRS usage & subscription charges.
2. Jazz Daily GPRS Bundle & Late Night Offer come with auto re-subscription facility, i.e. if you want to continue using the bundle you will not have to re-subscribe through *114*1# or *114*2# every day.
3. Available for both Jazz & Jazba subscribers.
4. Fair Usage Policy of 200 MBs applies.

In addition to Mobile Internet Bundles, subscribers will have the freedom to use internet at Base Rate of Rs. 1.125/64KB = Rs. 18/1MB. Please note that for using Mobile Internet bundles/Base Rate package, subscribers need to have data capable handset with GPRS settings alongwith GPRS provisioned SIM.

How to Subscribe Mobile Internet bundles?

Daily Jazz GPRS Bundle: Jazz subscribers can subscribe to Daily Jazz GPRS bundle by dialing*114*1#.
GPRS Weekly Bundle: To avail GPRS weekly bundle, Jazz & Jazba subscribers will dial *114*7#.
GPRS Monthly Bundle: Jazz & Jazba subscribers can get GPRS Monthly bundle by dialing *114*30#.
Late Night Offer: Jazz Subscribers can get Late Night Offer by dialing *114*2#.

How to Un-subscribe & find Bundle Balance?

Strings for Un-subscription, Bundle Balance Inquiry & Bundle Information are given below.

Bundle Type	Strings
Bundle Type	Balance Inquiry⁴	Bundle Information	Un-subscription
Daily Jazz GPRS Bundle	1141*2#	1141*3#	1141*4#
GPRS Weekly Bundle	1147*2#	1147*3#	1147*4#
GPRS Monthly Bundle	11430*2#	11430*3#	11430*4#
Late Night Offer	1142*2#	1142*3#	1142*4#
GPRS Bundles Info Menu⁵	*114#

4. Charges 15 Paisas + tax
5. Charges 15 Paisas + tax

Terms & Conditions:

No Activation or deactivation charges! Only respective subscription fee will apply.
Offer will be re-subscribed automatically after 24 hours.
Fair Usage Policy of 200 MBs will apply for every unlimited subscription.

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Thursday, May 24, 2012