Category: PAKISTAN

The Pakistani market is flooded with handsets with duplicate IMEIs, sold in the market in the form of low-cost, copy-cat versions of branded mobile phones. The large influx of Chinese counterfeit mobile phones in the country has led to the government losing millions of dollars in tax revenue … writes Dr Sakariya Kareem

Pakistan’s expanding internet services, has opened up a Pandora’s box of counterfeit smartphones in the market. According to a study compiled by a team of Harvard economists, it is estimated that 74% of the cellphones sold in the country were counterfeit pieces that were smuggled into Pakistan.

A counterfeit product is defined as an illegal replication of a legitimate product, and mimics its labelling, packaging and trademarks. They not only damage brands which are renowned for their excellence, but also the corresponding companies whose brands require high levels of research and development.

Though Pakistan is equipped with legislation to protect IPR (i.e.Intellectual Property Organization Act 2012), counterfeit goods remain a significant problem, with a range of products being counterfeited, including clothing, electronics, and luxury goods. products violating IPRs.

In April 2023, a report by Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) disclosed that mobile phones worth $7.19 million were imported illegally without opening the letters of credit (LCs) or utilising the banking channel. The FBR highlighted that only $1.46m was paid legally out of Pakistan through the banking channel, whereas $7.19m flowed out of Pakistan illegally, for the import of mobile phones. The figures had been matched from the Goods Declarations (GDs) and the quantity of IMEI number registration applications, which was also awarded by the FBR. According to an official, “The matching of data shows that payment for mobile sets worth $7.19mn has not been made. Ther­efore, some illegal mode was adopted for these sets.”

An important factor in the popularity of counterfeit mobiles is the high import duties on Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) approved devices. Officially imported mobile phones have high import taxes, which are given to the consumers, making PTA-approved devices more costly. Non-PTA mobile phones are the ones not listed with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

The increase in sales of mobile phones not registered with PTA has made the grey market bigger, where phones are sold without official permission. Counterfeit devices often lack quality controls and can result in poor user experiences and potential security risks. Non-PTA mobiles allow consumers to purchase devices from international brands that have not yet entered the Pakistani market. Non-PTA mobile phones often become available in the market before their official launch in the country, allowing customers to get the latest technology sooner. Customs duties and taxes are evaded by avoiding official import channels. All this results in smuggling of mobiles in bulk quantities without proper authorization from PTA.

As a result the Pakistani market is flooded with handsets with duplicate IMEIs, sold in the market in the form of low-cost, copy-cat versions of branded mobile phones. The large influx of Chinese counterfeit mobile phones in the country has led to the government losing millions of dollars in tax revenue.

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority tried to implement a system called ‘ Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) ‘ to identify counterfeit and non-registered smartphones. But the system has its glitches. There have also been incidents where the PTA and Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) have charged smartphone users 15 times the price of their phones. In one such instance, a person who bought a PKR 4,000 smartphone was billed an astronomical amount of PKR 50,000 in taxes. So because PTA approved smartphones are identified by their IMEI, even if a consumer pays less than PKR 5,000 for a smartphone, they may end up paying PKR 50,000 or more in taxes.

Another factor that has led to the rise in counterfeit smartphones is the state of the economy itself. As the country restricted imports to stop the outflow of dollars, the manufacturing of smartphone devices in Pakistan also came to a grinding  halt after manufacturers ran out of raw material. With all the 30 manufacturing units in the country closed, the import of mobile phones has unusually surged, and with that of counterfeit phones. 

Bara Market, Quetta (also known as NATO Market), Shah Alam market, Hall Road in Lahore or Raja Bazar in Rawalpindi are especially famous for electronic counterfeit items, mobile phones, and car parts at astonishingly cheap prices. Duplicate handsets, mainly coming from China, don’t have a brand name. A sticker can be pasted on it later on to let it look like an original set.  They look and operate so originally that an unsuspecting commoner doesn’t feel an inkling of their duplicity. High-end Samsung and Apple, which are costly and beyond the reach of a thrifty gizmo-lover, are vulnerable to copycatting. Sometimes, a duplicate version creeps into showcases prior to the official launch of a new model.

Counterfeit cell phones are easily available on e-commerce platforms in Pakistan. For instance, ‘iShopping.pk’ is famous for grey channel smartphones. The website sells smartphones and other products without official warranty. iShopping is also presently selling grey chanel Xiamoi phones as the mobile company has partnered with SmartLink up till now to sell Xiamoi phones in Pakistan. ^] There are several other Online Stores Selling Fake Mobile Phones in Pakistan like – Zimruh Online, Clearance Store, and others.

For Pakistani consumers, the ethical factor is not strong when it comes to intended purchasing behaviour. Surveys, probing into the reasons for the popularity of counterfeit mobile phones, found that hedonic shopping behaviour and economic factors are the causes of consumers’ complicity towards counterfeiting. The other main factor driving the trade in counterfeit goods in Pakistan is the lack of effective enforcement measures, where effective implementation of the laws is considered substantially inadequate. Pakistan has dearth of any specialised training of law enforcement and justice operators. On top of the enforcement gaps, there is a lack of awareness among consumers about the extent of counterfeiting in the market, which has in turn led to their growing acceptability of counterfeit products.

Unemployment, improper road infrastructure, poor connectivity, lack of access to clean water and hygiene, exorbitant energy bills, and high food inflation are some of the major issues that people in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have been dealing with

Four people were killed and over a hundred were injured for seeking affordable electricity and food in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir have highlighted the grim situation of poor governance and ill-treatment by the Islamabad government. These people had asked for their basic rights such as access to wheat and electricity at a fair price. But the Islamabad government instead used violence against them.

There have been a number of similar incidences in the recent past, which showed how the people from the backward regions of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan were denied basic and constitutional rights. They have been subjected to discrimination when it came to the distribution of equity, resources and benefits among different provinces. “This is not Azad (free) Kashmir. For us, it is azab (weird) Kashmir,” said one Kashmiri living in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

In the recent case of brutal police action, the ill-fated people from Kashmir were just demanding a reduction in exorbitant rates of wheat and electricity. The protests have been going on for over one year, which saw people expressing anger on different issues ranging from rising inflation to lack of development. This often led to the demand for autonomy.  

The strong action by police authorities that led to the deaths and severe injuries has intensified the anger and protests in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. “There is tension and anger in the air,” said Adil Hameed, a resident of Muzaffarabad. The principal opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) condemned the “continuous harassment and violence against peaceful protesters” in Kashmir.

Taking umbrage at the repressive action, former President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi slammed the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government saying the current dispensation believed and acted “on their rudimentary idea that: ‘Force is the only solution to all human problems’.” However, the injustice to the people of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, which Islamabad call Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit-Baltistan is not a recent phenomenon.

Every government overlooked the people from these backward areas and undermined their constitutional rights, said Sohail Akhtar, a visiting faculty at Islamabad-based National Defence University. Governments and mainstream political parties rather chose to fuel anti-India campaigns to divert attention or use force to quell protests and dissent.

Locals have blamed successive governments in Islamabad for discrimination and suppression. So they have been holding protests, which continued even in harsh winter. “No wheat, No electricity, No Rights; Testament to the oppressed and deprived life they are living in so-called Azad Kashmir!” said a Kashmiri named Fatima Dar.

The anger has been simmering for the past year and there had been a surge in the agitation in October 2023. Electricity charges and taxes in Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are higher than the dominant provinces of Punjab and Sindh. “In a country where some people do not have a morsel of bread and some live a luxurious life at state expense, a bloody revolution is bound to occur,” an elderly member from Rawalkot had said. 

Pakistan’s mainstream media and journalists slammed the governments for the discrimination and their inaction. They advocated that these people’s problems needed immediate attention and careful consideration. “These events serve as a stark reminder of the growing discontent among the public, primarily fuelled by skyrocketing electricity bills,” wrote The Nation newspaper. “Instead of responding to these protests with force, the government should seize this opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue.”

Unemployment, improper road infrastructure, poor connectivity, lack of access to clean water and hygiene, exorbitant energy bills, and high food inflation are some of the major issues that people in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have been dealing with. The Islamabad government however chose to respond with retaliatory action whenever people demanded their issues be resolved. In 2021, batons and tear gas shells were used to control teachers and pensioners in Kashmir.

While the people of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan did not get their rightful dues, their lands were given to non-local, aggravating their insecurity. ‘The Pakistani administration has been involved in efforts to alter the demographic profile of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan, reducing the indigenous people to a minority,” said Abdul Hamid Khan, Chairman of the Balawaristan National Front.

As the international community has accepted the fait accompli on J&K, Pakistan’s misinformation campaign on Kashmir is faltering very fast. Paid Kashmiri NGOs lack the motivation, trust, and public support needed to sustain the propaganda on Kashmir. Consequently, internal fault lines are becoming increasingly visible as ‘Kashmir-only’ groups rapidly lose relevance and face greater international scrutiny

Pakistan-backed international Kashmiri groups are fighting among themselves over the biased treatment from the Pakistani security establishment. According to sources, the United Kingdom-based Jammu and Kashmir Council for Human Rights (JKCHR) has recently expressed concerns regarding a reported visit of a Kashmir American Council (KAC) delegation to Pakistan in May.

It is noteworthy that Ghulam Nabi Fai is the president of the United States-based KAC. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice had charged Fai with participating in a long-term conspiracy to act as an agent of the Pakistani government in the U.S. “without disclosing their affiliation with the Pakistani government as required by law.” Since then, several Kashmiri separatist groups have sidelined Fai and his organization to safeguard their anti-India propaganda. Moreover, JKCHR and similar groups have accused Fai of jeopardizing the so-called Kashmir movement by allegedly assisting U.S. security agencies during his indictment to secure an early release from prison.

Some Kashmiri separatists even claim that the information shared by Fai ultimately helped India abrogate Jammu and Kashmir’s ‘special status’ under Articles 370 and 35A in August 2019. Pakistan has been financially supporting groups like KAC and JKCHR to keep the Kashmir issue alive in international organizations such as the United Nations and the Human Rights Council. However, it has become increasingly difficult for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to manage these groups after India’s decision on J&K in August 2019 and financial constraints in Pakistan. While there have always been differences among Kashmiri separatist groups, or so-called Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), over control of the international narrative on Kashmir and financial matters, these divisions have now become more pronounced. Consequently, reports of JKCHR’s open rebellion against Fai’s group have further exacerbated tensions among foreign-based Kashmiri groups, weakening the ISI’s control over their activities.

To make matters worse for Pakistan, ongoing mass protests in Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), including Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), have deepened the mistrust between Kashmiris and Pakistan’s military establishment. Locals in PoJK are increasingly aware of positive economic and political developments in Jammu and Kashmir and feel helpless over the exploitation of their resources and their treatment as “outsiders” by Pakistani state authorities. Additionally, reports of differences between the two main ISI-funded Kashmiri groups have further raised doubts among people in PoJK, who were led to believe that KAC and JKCHR were fighting for the so-called ‘Kashmir cause’. According to sources, JKCHR president Syed Nazir Gilani has even labelled Fai as an “enemy within” the Kashmir movement.

It has also been reported that several Kashmiri groups were unhappy with Fai’s organization after it removed the ‘right to self-determination’ from the final declaration at a Kashmir conference in 2006. Therefore, it is surprising that despite Fai’s indictment in 2011, his compromise for a reduced sentence and negative image among Kashmiris, the ISI continues to financially back KAC and had even opened the ‘Kashmir Centres’ in different countries. This made other Kashmiri groups insecure, ignored and led to the criticism of these Centres as a tourist place for regular visitors fromIndia, Pakistan, PoJK, and other parts of the world. People like Fai and Gilani have used the Kashmir issue as a means to make a fortune for themselves. There has been a tough competition among these groups to curry maximum favor from Pakistan’s military establishment after the externally supported Islamist insurgency broke out in J&K.

Furthermore, reports indicate that despite being a convicted criminal, Fai has been actively involved in anti-India lobbying in the US. He has been appearing on various audio-visual platforms across the country to spread misinformation about the Kashmir issue and alleged atrocities against minority communities in India. Fai is now the secretary-general of the Washington-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF), which is led by Ghulam Nabi Mir, the president of the organization. WKAF is among the most aggressive anti-India voices in the US and openly calls for Kashmir’s secession from India. Unlike other groups such as JKCHR, which has sometimes been accused of taking independent stances on the Kashmir issue, Fai’s role as a paid propagandist for the ISI extends beyond Kashmir. These reports also suggest a growing mistrust between the Pakistani security establishment and its paid actors concerning Kashmir.

As the international community has accepted the fait accompli on J&K, Pakistan’s misinformation campaign on Kashmir is faltering very fast. Paid Kashmiri NGOs lack the motivation, trust, and public support needed to sustain the propaganda on Kashmir. Consequently, internal fault lines are becoming increasingly visible as ‘Kashmir-only’ groups rapidly lose relevance and face greater international scrutiny. ISI-backed operatives like Fai have expanded their agendas beyond the Kashmir issue. The importance of individuals like Fai to Pakistan regarding Kashmir can be gauged from an October 2016 report prepared by a 13-member committee of the Pakistan Senate. This report recommended the formation of a Media Coordination Committee (MCC), comprising journalists as well as representatives from the Foreign Office of Pakistan, Ministry of Information, Parliament, and intelligence agencies, to develop a counter-propaganda campaign against India and design a media strategy to continuously highlight the Kashmir issue. As Pakistan attempts to internationalize the Kashmir issue, its internal faultlines are now coming out in open with different Kashmirigroups are casting aspersions on each other. With the growing anti-Pakistan sentiments in PoJK, these faultlines will become more visible in the coming months.