KARACHI (March 17 2010): The government move of seeking proposals, which the dealers of used imported computers see as a preparation for slapping a possible ban on the import of second-hand systems, has created discontent amongst the computer users and dealers. The move of seeking proposals from the multinational computer manufacturing companies is largely seen as a timid and anti-poor policy of the federal government.

The increasing IT literacy rate is also feared to come down if the ban takes place, the dealers said. A visit to the computer markets revealed on Tuesday that the dealers are in a state of shock with the government invitation to the so-called stakeholders of IT sector namely the multinational computer companies to propose ways for the ban on the imported computers.

Similarly, students outnumber the overall computer users in the country have looked at it as an inflationary and anti-education attempt to make the IT education costlier. According to computer vendors, a new computer system costs about Rs 30,000, which could be costlier if there is a demand from the operator for further enhancement in it, whereas the used one is available for Rs 5,000 to maximum 8,000 in the local market.

A majority of the poor students take benefits from the low cost computer systems, as their range of affordability for such machines does not go beyond few thousand rupees, he said, and requested to President Zardari for keen consideration for protection of the low-income class of the society.

He warned that the IT literacy will scale down phenomenally to irretrievable level in the country if the proposals of multinational computer producing companies were upheld against the poor. According to an expert, Pakistan hitherto is a fast growing nation in the region after India where IT spread had begun years earlier than the regional countries.

About 100,000 students complete their IT diplomas annually in the country, among them the poor class is rather shining, the expert added. "If the ban takes place it will snatch the little hope from the majority of poor students of the country of learning IT education," he added.

An importer of the used computer systems says that a used computer system is imported at $15 to $20 while the new one costs $350 to $400. About 22 percent taxes including GST and excise duty are paid on the import of each second-hand computer, he added. The country imports about 0.75 million used computers annually, which satisfy over 90 percent users of the middle and lower class of the society. The new computers capture a very small market share, he maintained.

The country had about 35,000 Internet cafes in 2006, whereas today there are about 21 million Internet users mainly with the second-hand computer systems. The government plan to stretch the user Internet base from existing level to maximum 27 million during next three years cannot succeed, the expert said. Pakistan exports about $300 million of software annually, besides a huge number of IT professionals, he said.

The IT revolution is indebted to the former Federal IT Minister Ata-ur-Rehman, who allowed the import of used computers to provide the computer education to the poor at lower cost, he said, adding that the country has earned good reputation during the last decade in IT field globally.

The dealers say there are about 35,000 shops selling the second-hand computers across the country, while a million of people are associated with this business, adding that the ban will leave all of them jobless. He said the country imports second-hand computers from Britain and the US.

ISLAMABAD; Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) has rejected the proposal for a ban on the import of used computers and IT accessories. The proposal is being considered at ministry of information technology on behest of some vested interest groups.

Munawar Iqbal, the president of PCA said that the move will benefit multinational companies dealing in new computers and increase their profits, take computers out of the range of poor students and affect livelihood of thousands of vendors dealing in used computers.

He said that at present, there is no indigenous manufacture of computers and IT equipment. All computers, used and new, are being imported. Some international companies, manufacturing computer hardware with the help of some local profit-seeker groups, had been pressing the government to impose a ban on import of used computers and IT equipment, obviously to control the local market, he added.

While terming the move as “unjust and based on malevolence”, he said his association would resist the ban at every level. He added that Pakistan was a third world country where 80 per cent consumers buy second-hand computers.        

“Multinational companies are trying to get a ban imposed on import of second-hand computers to capture the market, but the government should realise that a large number of poor people cannot afford to buy a new computer costing between Rs25,000 and Rs45,000,” Munawar Iqbal said, adding that the price of a used desktop PC ranged between Rs5,000 and Rs10,000.       

The ban would deprive poor students of their right to modern education and the country would lose millions of dollars in foreign exchange if the proposal was approved, he said.