KARACHI: People’s lives and businesses have been severely affected as the internet services are down due to the ongoing political turmoil that gripped the nation after PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest.
The number of point-of-sale transactions that went through Pakistan’s main digital payment systems dropped by about 50%. The IT sector projected to lose $3-$4 million every day.
The Supreme Court’s latest order said that Khan’s arrest on May 9 was illegal. Court directed him to go to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday. This gave people hope that internet services might start up again soon.
Malhat Ubaid told that “No new instructions received from the Ministry of Interior as of yet. He is the director of public relations for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. This meant that the connections might not fixed any time soon.
Reports say that the suspension of the internet has caused telecom operators to lose about Rs820 million in income. This is a huge blow to the sector, especially since the economy is still in a fragile state.
The PTA stopped mobile broadband services across the country on Tuesday night on the orders of the interior ministry — the longest such continuous shutdown in a country that often suspends communications as a tool to quell unrest.
Also, the government has blocked major social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, while YouTube services are slower. This is to stop “unwanted information” from spreading false information and panic among the general public.
Foreign payments transactions dropped
Reuters said that data shared by 1LINK on POS through its platform showed that the number of foreign payment card transactions dropped by 45% on Wednesday, from an average of 127,000 per day during the week of May 1–7 to about 68,000 on May 10.
The daily value of transactions using international payment cards was down 46%, from 606 million rupees ($2.14 million) to 330 million rupees ($1.16 million) on May 10.
Although cash transactions are still dominant in the country’s commercial dealing, digital payments have witnessed fast-paced growth in recent times.
