Online payment for Indian content banned
islamabad — The State Bank of Pakistan has banned online payments for electronic media content from India with immediate effect, a media report said on Friday.
“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,” Dawn News reported citing a circular issued on November 9.
“In this regard, it is advised to ensure meticulous compliance of aforementioned instructions of the Government of Pakistan and submit compliance status to SBP (by) November 13, 2020,” the circular added.
Regarding the development, former chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Absar Alam said that Indian content has already been banned in Pakistan, so the new circular could hit online payments for Direct to Home (DTH) service.
He said those who have DTH facility are mostly using Indian content and they make online payments.
“Now the subscriber cannot pay directly from Pakistan, but the Indian provider can get payments from other countries,” Alam added.
Zee5 is India’s digital entertainment platform, which offers an-over-the-top (OTT) platform for streaming shows and movies.
On demand and paid streamlining services, including Zee5 gained a lot of popularity and subscribers base in the last few months due to the Covid- 19 pandemic which left people working from home and in lockdowns.
Zee5 in particular has been airing Pakistani made content on its streaming service available in Pakistan with two major serials, Churails and Ek Jhooti Love Story.
Meanwhile, reacting to the ban, many social media users called it a ‘suppression of artistic freedom’, and expressed their distaste over the move, frustrated with the limitations concerning viewership of original content.