Imagine a Pakistan where 350,000 complaints were resolved in just eight months of 2025 – at zero cost, with 96 per cent implementation of recommendations and under 2.0 per cent pendency beyond 60 days.
This quiet revolution is led by the ombudsman institutions of Pakistan. As the judiciary struggles with delays and backlogs that dim people’s hope for justice, the ombudsman emerges as a beacon of relief. Since the establishment of the first office, Wafaqi Mohtasib, in 1983, Pakistan has built a world-class network of Ombudsmen and Ombudspersons at federal and provincial levels–now a model for efficient, accessible, and citizen-centric justice.
A hallmark of Pakistan’s justice system is its network of specialised ombudsman institutions, including the Federal Banking Ombudsman, Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), Federal Insurance Ombudsman, FOSPAH, and provincial ombudsmen for protection against workplace harassment. These offices have consistently delivered free, swift justice to citizens, backed by strong performance and statistics. Beyond domestic success, Pakistan’s ombudsmen have earned global recognition – the FTO serves as the secretary-general of the OIC Ombudsman Association, Wafaqi Mohtasib as president of the Asian Ombudsman Association and the Punjab Ombudsman was recently elected vice president of the International Ombudsman Institute.
This international recognition is backed by a proven track record of Pakistani ombudsmen being in a league of their own. The most recent example is the senior officers from Investigation Cell of General Secretariat of Grievances (Ombudsman) of Bahrain, who visited the headquarters of Federal Ombudsman, FOSPAH and Federal Tax Ombudsman for a specialised training session organised by the OIC Ombudsman Association. It is increasingly becoming difficult to sideline Pakistan’s impact in the global ombudsman fraternity when it comes to shaping the contemporary art of ombudsmanship.
It is no secret that Pakistan’s judiciary continues to struggle due to the crushing backlog of cases and procedural formalities which can drag even the most straight forward cases till years. As per data released in January 2025, 2.362 million cases are pending and await their fate before the Pakistani courts.
In contrast to the slow-paced and psychologically taxing judicial system of Pakistan, the ombudsman institutions are like a spark in the stale air for securing fast-track resolution of public grievances. A prime example of prompt delivery of justice is the Federal Tax Ombudsman of Pakistan that resolves complaints of the aggrieved taxpayers on an average of 34 days. This is not a theoretical figure but is backed by the recent four-year annual performance reviews according to which the tax ombudsman has resolved over 44,370 complaints in last four years.
These statistics have broken the own institutional record of the FTO as they surpass the cumulative total of 36,328 complaints which were resolved over the span of 21 years under the leadership of previously appointed tax ombudsmen. The FTO also boasts an impressive 98 per cent rate of implementation of its orders by the Federal Board of Revenue. In just eight months of 2025, the FTO has received 25,000 new complaints, which is a living testament to the ever increasing confidence of people in ombudsman institutions.
On a similar note, in 2024 alone, the Wafaqi Mohtasib of Pakistan processed 226,372 complaints and disposed of 223,198 alongwith an implementation rate of 93.21 per cent. Such commendable statistics are the by-product of the expertise of the ombudsman in-charge alongwith the extensive outreach and awareness campaigns held across the urban and rural areas of Pakistan, holding frequent ‘Khuli Kachehri’, engaging youth for wider dissemination of the ombudsman’s mandate and utilising digital technology for registration of complaint, in-order to make justice accessible for all.
The FTO is empowered by FTO Ordinance 2000 to resolve the tax disputes between taxpayers and taxation authorities via conciliation and mediation. The tax ombudsman has successfully resolved over 1,700 cases in the last eight months, while the Wafaqi Mohtasib has amicably resolved 2,113 cases via informal mediation, which remain numerical figures still unmatched by the judiciary and the FBR’s own ADR mechanisms deployed in Pakistan.
Where the women of our country face increasingly indifferent and discriminatory attitude, the ombudspersons of Pakistan have been ardently working at the frontline of making the system more responsive and gender sensitive. The Federal Ombudsperson for Protection Against Harassment (FOSPAH) is one such institution that was established under the Harassment of Women at Workplace Act (2010) and serves as a retreat for those who face hostile workplace environment.
A central reason for the success of ombudspersons in Pakistan is a clear, statute-based design that protects their independence while giving them enforceable powers with severe implications for the errant officer in the form of disciplinary action, referring to relevant institutions for criminal proceedings, departmental penalties or professional credibility being marred.
Most ombudspersons and their advisers in Pakistan are appointed from among senior civil servants with deep, practical experience of how bureaucracies function at the grassroots. A notable example is the current FTO.
These facts suggest a clear path forward: to effectively address the chronic issue of maladministration by public officials, Pakistan must further strengthen and empower its ombudsman institutions. Their proven track record speaks for itself.
Far from being seen as rivals to the judiciary, Pakistan’s ombudsperson offices can serve as true institutional allies – relieving courts of caseload burdens and contributing to the broader goal of accessible, timely justice. Their growing impact highlights the urgent need to integrate them more fully into the country’s justice delivery ecosystem.
The writer is adviser to the federal tax ombudsman, Islamabad.
