The Auditor General of Pakistan has identified a significant revenue loss of Rs. 39.67 million for the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) due to the non-renewal of registrations for thousands of IT companies.
According to the audit report, the PSEB failed to renew memberships of 3,967 out of 7,574 registered IT companies, resulting in a substantial financial shortfall.
According to the audit report, PSEB’s registration policy mandates IT companies, call centers, and freelancers to renew their registrations every one to five years. Renewal fees are structured based on annual revenue, ranging from Rs. 10,000 for entities earning up to Rs. 50 million to Rs. 30,000 for those with revenues exceeding Rs. 600 million. Despite this clear policy, the lapse in renewals reflects a missed opportunity to secure a critical revenue stream.
The audit highlighted that PSEB management lacked a robust marketing strategy and effective renewal policy to ensure compliance with registered companies. The absence of timely monitoring mechanisms exacerbated the issue, leaving a substantial number of companies unregistered beyond their initial validity period. Audit findings suggest that proactive measures could have prevented the revenue loss.
According to the audit report, the matter was raised with PSEB management, but no response was received. A Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) meeting held on January 23, 2024, discussed the issue, but the minutes were still awaited at the time of the report’s finalization.
Audit recommendations call for an inquiry into the reasons behind the registration lapses and a comprehensive categorization of IT companies, call centers, and freelancers based on their renewal statuses. The report also emphasizes the urgency of calculating renewal charges for each category to recover lost revenue and ensure future compliance.
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I raised this point months ago and laziness is still there. First they should exempt individual freelancers or charge them one time fee as there is no point of begging from those already struggling due to pseb incompetency and govt policies. Second they should stop asking to produce bank statements and contract copy. Companies and individuals usually signed NDC with foreign clients otherwise pseb should guarantee compensation in case contract leaked from their side or any of their employee contact the contractor backdoor to set his line.
They don’t ask contract copy they just ask for prc to individual free lancers. Renewal fee of freelancers is only Rs2000 and it gives benefits to them of tax that is 0.25% that is enough relief.
They asked explicitly from me and refused to renews unless provided. I given them past 3 e-prc’s and bank statement as well. The process required several calls reminding them to check the renewal application as well. And this is not just the case with me but also with many freelancers i’m usually in contact with.
I have worked in platforms like fiverr and they have not asked me. Also they are improving last year they added registration payment via card and it was improved immediately.
I don’t work on freelance platform but directly contracted with the foreign company. Pseb refused to accept my linkedin account and my name on employer website. They compelled me to share the contract copy although i said them it included NDC for privacy reasons but they didn’t even know what it meant. Few acquaintance refused to renew and they are working directly with clients as well. And unfortunately they opted tax free ways to bring remittance and parked their earnings outside for future.
Why payment through card?? which incurs extra charges. Are they getting some commission??? In past we were able to do bank transfers which were free of charge. Payment through card in another glitch..