Google Play Store will be unavailable in Pakistan from December 1st. Mobile users will not be able to avail Google Play Store services in Pakistan from December 1, 2022.
The decision was taken after the State Bank of Pakistan canceled payments of $34 million to the international service providers.
The State Bank of Pakistan has made changes to the Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) method, which stopped payments of 34 million dollars on an annual basis by mobile companies to international service providers including Google, Amazon and Meta.
Pakistani users will now be forced to pay to download Google and other international apps through credit card or debit card. However, the credit card facility is limited to a certain number of users, so a majority of mobile users may miss out on downloading apps from the Google Play Store.
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and four Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) unanimously wrote a joint letter to the State Bank of Pakistan on Friday requesting withdrawing the decision of cancelation of payment.