Sindh CM for harnessing power of internet to make doing business easier

Sindh’s chief minister has directed the Board of Revenue (BoR) to reduce the period of registration and transfer of property from six months to only six days by facilitating investors and the ordinary people so they can file their applications online.

“I’m fed up with the sub-registrar offices. Either put them in order or send them home. I’ll be handing over the registration work to the private sector,” said CM Syed Murad Ali Shah, who chaired a high-level meeting regarding the Ease of Doing Business Reforms Council on Saturday.

Shah had especially called in representatives of 10 public and other agencies, including K-Electric Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Syed Monis Abdullah Alvi, Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) Managing Director Asadullah Khan, the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) director general, the Sindh Food Authority DG, a representative of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (Sessi) commissioner and the Karachi commissioner.

The CM said that the purpose of inviting all of them was to get their input so that the business environment could be improved and brought up to par.

“I have to bring a lot of investment to Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas and Thatta regions. Therefore, I’ll adopt drastic measures to facilitate investors.”

The BoR senior member admitted that the registration of property and its transfer takes between 149 days and six months, so he will launch an online application process so that people can apply for registration online, following which the system will automatically generate registration or transfer.

The CM directed him to make the process shorter — from six months to six days — and said he will launch the online application process by the end of this month.

Shah directed the BoR senior member to outsource the board’s call centre, which has failed to redress public complaints. “We need efficient systems and workforce, otherwise ask them to pack up.”

The investment secretary briefed the provincial chief executive and the meeting on different problems, which included red tape, lethargy and the inefficiency of the government system.

The CM decided that the BoR senior member will launch an online application process and appoint two sub-registrars on special duty to deal with and expedite the registration, transfer and mediation cases that have lingered because of the relevant sub-registrars for over three days.

He also decided that an e-stamping system will be launched at the earliest by amending the relevant laws.

He said that over 200 multinational companies are working in Karachi, and he wants to provide them more and more facilities so that their respective businesses can thrive further.

Shah said the SBCA had established a single-window facility for all categories of building, so he directed the KWSB and Sepa to establish an inter-agency arrangement.

A proposal was given by the industrialists in the meeting to outsource the inspection of under-construction buildings under the SBCA regulation. They suggested that the inspection work be handed over to the Association of Builders and Developers (Abad).

The investment secretary said the Lahore Development Authority had introduced the inspection of under-construction buildings through a private party. The CM vowed to consider the proposal favourably.

He also decided to establish dedicated and automated commercial courts or benches at Karachi’s district courts for fast-track settlement of business disputes of up to Rs2 million by amending the Code of Civil Procedure 1908. He asked the law department to submit a relevant roadmap within 30 days.

The investment secretary said Sessi had established a collection & benefits portal by accepting over-the-counter payment, adding that Sessi had completed the initial data of 18,000 enterprises, and the active logins stood at 6,644. The CM directed the Sessi commissioner to ensure all logins are activated within 30 days.

Sindh Secretary Najam Shah pointed out that the permission of right of way for the local bodies for new connections involves a lengthy procedure.

The CM directed the local government secretary to introduce quick turnaround time for these permissions. “I want an e-system for the requests and permissions.”

Shah directed the energy secretary to automate the process of the issuance of wiring certificates, stressing that it must be done within a month. He directed the chief secretary to monitor the simplification of trade licences, saying that they must be issued within 15 days.

The CM decided to convert low-risk trade licences into notifications without any fees. He said they must be consolidated so that one licence can operate across Sindh, and ordered setting up a fully automated online system for the application, renewal and payment of licence fees.

All the participants agreed that the council should meet every month so that all the outstanding issues can be resolved at the highest forum available to them.

The meeting was attended by leading businesspersons, including World Bank representative Amjad Bashir, Hub Power Company CEO Khalid Mansoor, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry President Mian Amjad Nisar, Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Agha Shuhab Ahmed, Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Shahzad Dada, the Abad president, Sindh Health Care Commission CEO Dr Minhaj Kidwai, the Amreli Steels chairman, Gul Ahmed Chairman Mohammad Bashir and Pakistan Software Houses Association President Jehan Ara.

The provincial chief executive was assisted by CS Mumtaz Ali Shah, Planning & Development Chairman Muhammad Waseem and the CM’s Principal Secretary Sajid Jamal Abro.