Senate body concerned at absence of legal cover for PCC establishment

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication raised serious concerns over the absence of legal cover for establishment of Pakistan Crypto Council, while saying that crypto currency adoption could become a mega scandal.

The parliamentary panel met with Palwasha Khan in the chair here on Monday to review the scope and mandate of Pakistan Crypto Council recently launched by the federal government.

The committee questioned the legal standing of the council and reiterated that the legislature has not been taken into confidence prior to the establishment of the Council.

Senator Humayun Mohmand inquired as to whether or not the council could be created by the Executive orders? The committee further inquired about the role of IT Ministry in Crypto Council.

The ministry failed to satisfy the committee over the legal cover for Crypto Council.

The IT Secretary,ZarrarHasham Khan, stated that the ministry has a role of providing input with regard to TORs. The committee was of view that the Crypto Council should be under the preview of the Ministry of IT, rather than the Finance Ministry. After due deliberations, the committee deferred the matter and decided to invite the Finance Ministry in the next meeting for a comprehensive briefing.

The IT secretary said that information technology and IT-enabled services (ITeS) exports target of $5 billion is set for the next fiscal year. The country is likely to miss the exports target of $4.2 billion set for the outgoing fiscal year. IT exports is expected to reach $3.8 billion by the end of current fiscal year i.e. end June 2025 compared to $3.2 billion during the same period of last fiscal year.

Discussing the issue of renewalof LDI/FLL licenses, the IT secretary informed that the consultation with the stakeholders has been completed as per the directions of the Sindh High Court (SHC), and the final decision will be announced in two to three weeks.

Furthermore, the committee was briefed on the role of the IT Ministry in Pakistan Digital Authority. The IT secretary apprised that the Pakistan Digital Authority has been tasked to implement digital transformation initiatives focused on making the economy and governance digital, and will eventually play a major role in creating citizens centered “Digital Society”. However, the IT Ministry is mainly responsible for policy formulation, legislation, governance in IT and telecommunications sector, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025