Google Play Store will shut down its services in Pakistan from December 1, 2022, after the State Bank of Pakistan blocked the payment of $34 million to international service providers. The payment of $34 million annually to overseas service providers like Google, Amazon, and Meta through mobile firms became stalled after the central bank stopped using the direct carrier billing (DCB) mechanism.
Consumers in Pakistan will now be forced to download Google and other foreign apps to make purchases exclusively through credit cards or debit cards. However, since the credit card option is only available to a certain number of users, the majority of mobile users may not be able to download the program from the Google Play Store.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, and the four cellular mobile operators (CMOs) unanimously wrote a joint letter on Friday 25-11-2022 to the State Bank saying that DCB reconsider its decision to cancel the payment method.
The News has received confirmation from reliable government sources that Google services such as app downloads will not be available. They informed the relevant authorities that a payment of $34 million was pending and if it was not paid, their service offering for Google App Store downloads would cease.