The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has prohibited online payments for electronic media content from India with immediate effect, a media report stated on Friday.

According to Dawn news report citing a circular issued on November 9 reads: "We are in receipt of a letter from the cabinet division, Government of Pakistan, whereby they have instructed to stop different modes of payments, including credit cards, for subscribing (to) Indian Content in Pakistan, including Zee5 video-on-demand service. In this regard, it is advised to ensure meticulous compliance of the aforesaid instructions of the Government of Pakistan and submit compliance status to SBP (by) November 13, 2020.”

As regards the development, former chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Absar Alam said that Indian content has already been banned in Pakistan, hence the new circular could hit online payments for Direct to Home (DTH) service. He said those who have DTH facilities are mostly using Indian content and they make online payments.

IN India, DTH broadcasting service implies the distribution of multi-channel TV programs by using a satellite system and providing TV signals directly to subscribers’ premises. No data is available about how many Pakistanis are using this option to subscribe to Indian content.

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