It was at first reported early this week by netmag.com that the xiaomi phones got banned by the PTA from getting sold all across Pakistan.
Since that time there are e-commerce website that are being run down privately that have no relation with the Xiaomi.Inc.
But however the reason put forth of banning these phone wasn’t that visible and clear to be understood, now here’s the actually reason for the outnumbering of these phones by the PTA.
Legal requirements to sell Handsets in Pakistan
- Under the Telecom Act 1996 (section 29), no terminal equipment (including smartphones) can be used on a live telecom network in Pakistan unless it has been type approved by PTA.
- Type approval granted by PTA signifies that particular equipment is approved for general sale and is suitable to connect with a specific public telecommunication network.
- Any commercial entity wishing to commercially sale/market terminal devices including mobile phones within the territory of Pakistan are required to obtain type approval from the PTA.
- Type Approval application requires authorization from manufacturer, technical specifications, details regarding after Sales Service Facility/Customer Service Centers, relevant fee’s and other supporting documentation.
- Once type approval is granted, anyone can sell and market the type approved equipment/smartphone in Pakistan.
What Happened in Case of XiaomiPK.com?
XiaomiPK.com was not aware of the fact that the phone selling brand was to take up approval from the PTA before selling the phones all across Pakistan.
Lulu, the administrator of XiaomiPK.com, had a word with the netmag where he claimed that there company wasn’t actually aware of the method through which the process had to take place and an email from Mr. Nouman Khalid from PTA claimed that the selling of these phones was not allowed in Pakistan.
Mr.lulu said that XiaomiPK got in touch with one of the legal companies on Islamabad to get the sort of approval from them. But they didn’t apply for it because they were told that some of the pervious attempts to get approval from the PTA are not a piece of cake.
Attempts for Getting Type Approvals for Xiaomi Smartphones in Pakistan
We have been told that there were many attempts made that failed to get approval from the PTA.
“As part of evaluation process the device documentation was reviewed and Operating System(OS) Testing was performed.
During evaluation it was revealed that Mi 4i device has certain features which are not in accordance with the required specifications and legal provisions, therefore, type approval has yet not been granted”, KhurramMehran, Director PR, PTA
Mr. Mehranhad a word with thenetmagthat PTA, had written a long side rejection letter to the XiaomiPK
“The vendor never approached PTA again on the matter”, added the spokesperson.
“The website was directed to abstain from sale of non-type approved devices via grey channels within the territory of Pakistan, in case the company wishes to commercially sale/market these devices, they must apply for type approval”, PTA Spokesperson.
Who is to be blamed now?
On a clear cut note the e-commerce store are the main suspects for the act, who sold the phones in Pakistan without any approval from the PTA. If they really want the sell the phones across Pakistan then they must follow the policies of the PTA
One latest case of oneplus phone is the main example of this thing. At first he oneplus phone has to take in consideration, where it was out of the Indonesian market because of the laws that here 4G phones had to contain 30% locally. Similarly the foreign investors can invest in R&D or acquire the local software.
