Gifting a Mobile Phone to Family in Pakistan: PTA Registration and Tax (2026)

A new iPhone for your brother. Your old Samsung for your mother. A cheap phone for a cousin starting university. Phones are one of the most common gifts overseas Pakistanis take home.

The problem comes later. The phone works for a few weeks, then it says "No service". Or the courier holds the box and asks for a "PTA NOC". This guide explains how to avoid both. For the general rules on your own phone, read our guide to bringing a mobile phone to Pakistan.

First, the hard truth: no gift phone is tax-free

Pakistan removed the duty-free phone from the baggage rules on 1 July 2019. FBR's DIRBS FAQs say no exemption is available "even if the passenger is bringing only one mobile". PTA's FAQs list a gift from a friend or relative abroad as one of the cases where a phone must be registered.

Being a tax filer does not help either. PTA's FAQs say all individuals pay the duty, filer or not.

Why the free 120-day option does not work for gifts

Overseas Pakistanis can register one phone free for up to 120 days per visit. Many people hope to use this for a gift. It does not fit, for three reasons:

• It covers only one phone that belongs to you, and PTA says you must take it back when you leave.
• The phone is locked to a SIM in your name. Your brother's SIM will get no signal.
• After 120 days the phone is blocked. And once an IMEI has used this facility, it cannot use it again on another person's passport.

So if the phone is staying in Pakistan, plan to pay the tax.

Three ways a gift phone reaches Pakistan

Option 1: register it yourself before you leave

CGO 01 of 2019 lets an international traveller register phones brought in their luggage within 60 days of arrival. You use DIRBS, which is PTA's phone registration system.

1. Get a local SIM in your name. PTA's FAQs say the SIM number must be issued on the applicant's passport, CNIC or NICOP.
2. Note every IMEI. Dial *#06#. Phones with eSIM, such as iPhones, have a second "digital" IMEI. PTA says all IMEIs in the phone must be registered.
3. Apply. Use the portal at dirbs.pta.gov.pk/drs, dial *8484# from a local SIM in your name, or visit a mobile company franchise. Enter your passport number, CNIC/NICOP if you have one, the SIM number and the IMEIs.
4. Pay the PSID. DIRBS gives you a Payment Slip ID with the tax amount. PTA's FAQs say a PSID is valid for 7 days. If you do not pay in time, it is deleted and you must apply again.
5. Wait for "Approved". PTA says payment reaches FBR through 1-Link. Blocked phones are sent for unblocking every hour after approval.
6. Hand it over. PTA's FAQs say a phone registered the normal way, with duty paid, works with all local SIMs. The receiver can put in their own SIM.

Short on cash? Since October 2026 the sales tax part can be paid in monthly instalments through DIRBS. See our PTA tax instalments guide.

Option 2: the family registers it on their CNIC

CGO 01 of 2019 also has a route for a "local applicant". The receiver uses their CNIC and a SIM in their own name. DIRBS creates a PSID for the duty, taxes and fine.

This route usually costs more. PTA's FAQs say there is no discount for registering within 60 days, but a person who registers after 60 days, or as a local applicant on a CNIC, "will have to pay additional tax/duty". We could not find the exact difference for each phone model, so we do not quote it.

There is also a timing trap. PTA says a phone gets signal for the first 60 days after a local SIM goes in. After that it stops working until it is registered. That 60-day period does not restart if the same phone comes back on a later trip.

Option 3: sending the phone by post or courier

A phone in a parcel is not released just because it is a gift. Under CGO 01 of 2019, para C:

• The receiver applies on DIRBS to get a PSID and pays it.
• Customs checks the payment and the IMEI in DIRBS, then releases the phone.
• A fake, cloned, non-standard or stolen phone is confiscated.

The declaration form in the order (Annex-A) asks for the receiver's name, CNIC, shipment reference, each IMEI, and whether the phone is for personal use or a gift. Ticking "gift" does not remove the tax.

PTA says the five-phones-a-year limit applies to courier imports too. For the rest of the parcel rules, see sending a parcel or gift box to Pakistan.

Used phones and old phones

Giving away your old phone? The same rules apply. If it was never registered in Pakistan, it needs registration and tax. PTA's FAQs even mention people whose tax on a second-hand phone came out higher than its price. PTA sends those questions to FBR. Check the amount on DIRBS before you decide whether a used phone is worth taking.

If your old phone is already registered in Pakistan on your passport or CNIC, it does not need registering again. Phones bought from a shop in Pakistan are normally already registered ("compliant").

Mistakes that get phones blocked

• Using a stranger's passport. Some shops offer to register phones on "spare" passports. PTA treats this as misuse of credentials. Victims can check how many phones are on their passport by dialling *8484# and complain to PTA or FIA. Do not lend your passport details, and do not use someone else's.
• Registering only one IMEI on a dual-SIM or eSIM phone.
• Letting the PSID expire. Seven days goes fast during a busy visit.
• Waiting until the last week of your trip. Leave time for payment to show as approved.
• Buying a cheap copy abroad. PTA says a phone with a non-standard IMEI cannot be registered and will be blocked.

A simple checklist before you fly home

• Local SIM in your name.
• All IMEIs noted (box, or *#06#).
• Application made and PSID paid within 7 days.
• Status shows "Approved" on DIRBS.
• Receiver tested the phone with their own SIM.
• Payment receipt and PSID saved and shared with the family.

What we could not confirm

• How much more the CNIC route costs. PTA says it is "additional tax/duty" but gives no amounts. Check DIRBS or FBR's WeBOC duty page for your model.
• Tax rates. FBR's 2019 FAQs list fixed amounts by phone value, but they are old. We do not quote them.
• How to pay the PSID. CGO 01 of 2019 lists online banking, ATM, mobile banking and bank branches. PTA's FAQ says to pay "by visiting personally any commercial bank". Ask your bank which channels accept DIRBS PSIDs.
• "A year" or "a calendar year". The FBR order says five devices "within a year". PTA's FAQs say a calendar year. We follow PTA.
• Whether DIRBS asks the receiver's details when you register a gift on your passport. The official texts we read do not mention it.

Related: Bringing a mobile phone to Pakistan · PTA tax in instalments · Sending a gift parcel · Second laptop, camera or drone