Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief adviser on the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, has said that the interim government is not leaving any unresolved challenges for the next administration in the ICT and telecom sectors.
He expressed hope that the reforms initiated by the interim government would be continued by the next government.
He added that relevant authorities must play a proactive role in ensuring a reduction in mobile phone prices following the recent cut in import duties.
Taiyeb made the remarks on Wednesday at a roundtable discussion titled “Reform Agenda for the ICT and Telecom Sector,” organised by Voice for Reform at Karwan Bazar in the capital.
The event was supported by the Technology Industry Policy Advocacy Platform (TIPAP).
The discussion was moderated by Fahim Mashroor, co-convener of Voice for Reform and former president of BASIS. Other speakers included BTRC Commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Iqbal Ahmed, telecom expert Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, BACCO President Tanvir Ibrahim, and Dr Niaz Asadullah, head of the ICT sector corruption white paper drafting committee.
Responding to a question on whether mobile phone prices would fall following the duty reduction, Taiyeb said prices should come down, but coordination among the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Ministry of Commerce and the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection was crucial.
“Since duties have been reduced, prices should decrease. If we can make NBR, the commerce ministry and consumer rights authorities effective, mobile phone prices will definitely come down,” he said.
However, he cautioned against expecting immediate results, citing lead times involved in opening letters of credit (LCs), importing consignments and manufacturing devices.
“After the duty reduction, importers will now open LCs. Once new consignments arrive or production begins using newly imported components, the impact will be felt. Expecting an overnight price drop after a gazette notification is unrealistic,” Taiyeb said, adding that it could take two to three months for the price impact to materialise.
Asked whether the next government might roll back the reforms undertaken by the interim administration, Taiyeb said such a move was possible but stressed that the current government was prepared to justify every policy decision.
“We are not avoiding reforms out of fear that a future government might undo them. We will continue our policy initiatives transparently and will defend them even after we leave office,” he said.
On what challenges he was leaving for the next government, Taiyeb said the interim administration was instead resolving existing issues.
“We are taking all criticism and pressure on our shoulders so the next government can focus on advancing the country’s digital economy,” he said, adding that he believed in strengthening institutional capacity rather than taking up new projects. He also said no new projects were taken up in the last budget under his responsibility.
Addressing the recent deactivation of more than 8.8 million SIM cards, Taiyeb said the figure appeared large but noted that 60 to 80% of those SIMs were inactive.
He also dismissed claims that the number of SIM cards per national ID had been reduced to five, calling such information misleading.
“There is an existing law that limits more than 10 SIM cards per NID. No directive has been issued by the ministry to reduce it to five. The Ministry of Home Affairs made a request to limit it to five, and earlier even to two, but we have maintained the limit at 10,” he said.
