KARACHI: Pakistan’s new tax profiling system has raised widespread fears of data security breaches, with citizens saying sensitive data uploaded on the portal may be misused and legal experts calling it unconstitutional and in violation of the fundamental right to privacy.
The two online portals, unveiled on Friday by the Federal Board of Revenue, hold information regarding the bank accounts, properties, travel history, and other data of at least 53 million Pakistanis, collected from Pakistan’s primary citizenry database, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
The tax portal comes on the back of the annual budget announced earlier this month which targets a sharp hike in tax revenues for the new fiscal year to June 2020. Ending a culture of rampant tax evasion is also high on the list of conditionalities attached to a $6 billion International Monetary Fund bailout package (IMF) that cash-strapped Pakistan agreed to last month.
Pakistan’s history is littered with statements by incoming governments announcing crackdowns and pledging tax reforms that fizzle out because of a lack of political will to force the rich and powerful to pay taxes.
As of last year, only 1.6 million people filed tax returns in a country of 208 million. Out of them, 400,000 showed income below the levels that tax cuts in, another 200,000 had minimal tax, and only 950,000 paid tax of any significance.
“Just checked it out. Security is too weak. Should require payment by a card in the name of the payer — as email verification possible if mobile not in taxpayer name,” marketing consultant Assad Ahmad said on Twitter. “Just got my data without giving a phone number registered in my name and answering simple questions about family.”
Experts are similarly alarmed.
“When over 100 million Pakistani citizens were disclosing their private data to NADRA, the understanding was that NADRA would use it only for issuing them an identity card, and not betray them to the tax-man,” Umer Gilani, a lawyer who campaigns for the protection of privacy, told Arab News. “NADRA’s decision to merge its database with FBR’s database is unconstitutional. It violates the fundamental right to privacy guaranteed by Article 14 of Pakistan’s Constitution,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s courts had consistently ruled that the right to privacy extended to the privacy of people’s data.
Sharing NADRA data with tax authorities and uploading it on what he called “a low security online portal” breached confidentiality, and was unsafe, Gilani said.
The FBR insists the data is safe.
“We will ensure the security of the data,” FBR chief, Syed Shabbar Zaidi told reporters on Friday. “The data will be kept centralized at FBR headquarters, even away from regional tax offices,”
Few are not convinced.
“The concerns are that in the absence of data privacy laws, the data the government is collecting through different sources... where will it be utilized and who is authorized to use it?” Dr. Umair Javed, a professor of politics at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), told Arab News.
According to Javed, the new Pakistan system has borrowed heavily from the blueprint of the United States’ Internal Revenue Services (IRS) which also employs different sources to collect data about citizens.
“Is the government prepared to guarantee its (data’s) security and privacy is the biggest question despite their good intentions and purpose,” he said.
A draft law for personal data protection is pending legislation since October last year, while the government has launched a huge online portal packed full of accessible citizen data with effectively no data privacy laws in place.
“In case of any security lapse, (there) would be dire consequences,” Badar Khushnood, Vice Chairman of the award-winning Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITES (P@SHA), told Arab News. “The law should have been passed before launching the system for the clarity of data privacy,” he said.
Dr. Ikram ul Haq, a legal and taxation expert agreed.
“Security review by independent agencies renowned for awarding certifications is missing... There is no guarantee that data would not be misused or abused by the staff with access to it,” he said.
“It (profiling system) is a good thing, but it must be ensured that the information is not leaked and misused for extortion or... blackmailing,” said Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, Senior VP at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry. “Our concern is that it could be leaked and harm any concerned individual.”
Fears of a massive data leak are not unwarranted. In 2018, a cyber-security services provider, the Pakistan Computer Emergency Response Team (PakCERT), reported 1,340 cases of website defacement and hacker attacks on Pakistani web domains (.pk).
“The .pk domain was attacked all over the world where it is being hosted or operated. The data only shows that websites were attacked and not necessarily reflect that the inside of the organizations’ systems were attacked,” Qazi Mohammad Misbahuddin Ahmed, CEO of PakCERT told Arab News. “If the security of the system is properly audited then there (is) no breach,” he said, adding that he assumed the government would have put security controls in place for the tax profiling portal.
There are additional concerns including that it might not take a sophisticated software hacker to break into the system, and that anybody with access to another person’s identity card could get hold of the information by paying a Rs.500 (approx $3) fee.
“The government has made it a source of making money by charging us for our own information,” P@SHA’s Badar Khushnood said. “By using NIC (national identity card) of any other person, anyone can get registered with the portal and get information,” he said, adding that the system could be useful in the documentation of the country’s vast informal economy only if its security protocols were made foolproof.
Pakistan’s new online tax profiling portal sparks data privacy fears
Pakistan’s new online tax profiling portal sparks data privacy fears
- Personal data of 53 million people uploaded to a new tax database accessible through a national ID card number
- Legal experts call the system unsafe, unconstitutional, in violation of privacy rights
World Bank projects 2.7 percent growth for Pakistan in FY2025
- Pakistan must convert stabilization into durable growth, says World Bank director
- Inflation drop to 1.5 percent in February supports signs of Pakistan’s economic recovery
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economy is projected to grow by 2.7 percent in the fiscal year ending June 2025, the World Bank said on Wednesday, indicating signs of stabilization amid easing inflation and improved financial conditions.
The World Bank, in its latest report titled “Reimagining a Digital Pakistan,” said the real GDP growth is expected to benefit from a rebound in private consumption and investment, driven by easing inflation, lower interest rates and improving business confidence.
This improvement in Pakistan’s economy is supported by declining inflation, which fell to 1.5 percent in February, prompting the central bank to reduce its policy rate to 12 percent after a series of cuts totaling 1,000 basis points since June 2024.
Despite these positive indicators, the country faces significant external financing challenges, including over $22 billion in external debt repayments, highlighting the need for continued structural reforms and fiscal consolidation.
“Pakistan’s economy continues to stabilize and is expected to grow by 2.7 percent in the current fiscal year ending June 2025, up from 2.5 percent in the previous year,” the World Bank said.
It added that agricultural growth remained modest due to unfavorable weather conditions and pest outbreaks while industrial activity weakened due to rising input costs, increased taxation and cuts in government expenditure.
The report said growth in Pakistan’s services sector remained “muted” due to spillover effects from weak agricultural and industrial activity, which will make it challenging for the government to create jobs and reduce poverty.
“Pakistan’s key challenge is to transform recent gains from stabilization into economic growth that is sustainable and adequate for poverty reduction,” World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, Najy Benhassine, said.
“High-impact reforms to prioritize an efficient and progressive tax system, support a market-determined exchange rate, reduce import tariffs to boost exports, improve the business environment and streamline the public sector would signal strong reform commitment, build confidence, and attract investment.”
The report said real GDP growth was expected to rise to 3.1 percent in FY26 and 3.4 percent in FY27 due to the predicted ongoing macroeconomic stabilization and the implementation of key economic reforms.
“The April 2025 edition, Taxing Times, projects regional growth to slow to 5.8 percent in 2025 — 0.4 percentage points below October projections — before ticking up to 6.1 percent in 2026,” the World Bank said. “This outlook is subject to heightened risks, including from a highly uncertain global landscape, combined with domestic vulnerabilities including constrained fiscal space.”
‘One journey isn’t enough’: How a Pakistani found pieces of home in India
- Shueyb Gandapur traveled across border in 2017 before publishing his travelogue this year
- Despite 10 police station visits in 16 days, he plans to go back to explore human connections
ISLAMABAD: For Pakistani traveler and writer Shueyb Gandapur, visiting India was less a sightseeing trip and more a journey into long-held curiosity, layered with red tape and quiet moments of recognition. On one hand, it was a chance to walk through the stories his grandfather once told him about the place, but on the other, it meant checking in at police stations 10 times in 16 days.
The journey took place in 2017, when Gandapur, a chartered accountant who has traveled to over 100 countries, secured an Indian visa via an invitation arranged through personal contacts.
His experiences are now the subject of a newly released travelogue titled Coming Back: The Odyssey of a Pakistani Through India, published in January 2025 in the United Kingdom and now available in Pakistan.
“India visas are restrictive,” he told Independent Urdu in a recent interview. “They list only specific cities you can visit, and you have to report to a police station when you arrive in each one, and again when you leave.”
“During my 16-day stay, I went to police stations 10 times,” he continued. “They’d pull out an old register from a shelf and write down my details. I often wondered how many names had filled those pages, and whether anyone ever looked at them again.”
Cross-border travel between Pakistan and India is closely monitored, particularly in recent years as diplomatic ties have deteriorated. But Gandapur’s book avoids political commentary, focusing instead on moments of human connection and cultural echoes that defy national divides.
In New Delhi’s bustling Paranthe Wali Gali, he recalled, a waiter greeted him with a strangely familiar tone: “It’s been a long time since you came by.”
Gandapur had never been there before.
“It was my first time,” he said. “But the welcome felt like I was coming back to a place I’d once known.”
As he traveled through cities like Agra, Jaipur and Varanasi, Gandapur began to notice traces of a shared past, with old shops and streets bearing names from present-day Pakistan.
In the Indian capital, he found schools named after Dera Ismail Khan, his hometown. The local D.I. Khan community, he learned, still publishes newsletters and preserves its identity generations after the Partition.
His literary enthusiasm led him to the graves of Urdu greats like Mirza Ghalib and Qurratulain Hyder.
“I wanted to see how Urdu lives on in India and what Indians think of our poets and writers,” he said.
Perhaps the most surprising encounters came with Pashto-speaking Hindus, descendants of communities that once lived in Pakistan’s northwest but remained in India after 1947.
“They call themselves Hindu Pashtuns,” Gandapur said. “They’ve been largely forgotten by history, but they’re still holding on to their language, their stories and a sense of who they are.”
While Coming Back is framed as a personal narrative, it also reads as an invitation to look past borders and bureaucracy and notice what endures.
Gandapur said he hoped to return to India one day, with Lucknow, Hyderabad and Mumbai on his list.
“There’s so much still to explore,” he said. “To really understand the culture we share, one journey isn’t enough.”
200 Chinese firms participate in Pakistan health and minerals expo, securing $375 million in deals
- Key agreements included $60 million quartz stone export deal, $45 million joint venture in medical device manufacturing
- Chinese delegations expressed interest in Pakistan’s salt, copper, fluorite, gemstones, information technology and real estate
ISLAMABAD: Two hundred Chinese firms took part in the Health, Engineering and Minerals Show (HEMS) hosted by Pakistan in April, sealing trade and investment deals worth $375 million, Pakistani state media reported on Wednesday.
The HEMS 2025 was held in the eastern city of Lahore from Apr. 17-19, bringing together many global delegates to spotlight Pakistan’s strengths in key industries. The expo featured a dedicated Mineral Investment Pavilion and aimed to boost international trade, investment and industrial growth.
Pakistan aims to increase its economic partnership with China, with whom it also enjoys cordial ties. Chinese companies are collaborating with local Pakistani firms to establish joint ventures, with Beijing focusing on tapping Pakistan’s vast natural resources.
“Representatives from more than 150 Chinese companies engaged in a series of business-to-business meetings across health care, engineering, minerals and mining, resulting in the signing of 29 memorandums of understanding, letters of intent and contracts worth over $375 million,” the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) said in a report.
“Key agreements included a $60 million quartz stone export deal (with a $10 million investment component), a $45 million joint venture in medical device manufacturing and an $80 million technology transfer contract in electric vehicles.”
The statement said Chinese delegations led by Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi also expressed interest in salt, copper, fluorite, gemstones, information technology, real estate and the branding of Pakistani products.
The report said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hosted a dinner for 800 delegates from 50 countries, during which he praised Ambassador Hashmi and his team for facilitating the largest-ever Chinese business delegation’s to visit Pakistan.
Pakistan is home to one of the world’s largest porphyry copper-gold mineral zones, while the Reko Diq mine in southwestern Balochistan province has an estimated 5.9 billion tons of ore. Barrick Gold, which owns a 50 percent stake in the Reko Diq mines, considers them one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas, and their development is expected to have a significant impact on Pakistan’s struggling economy.
Earlier in April, Pakistan also hosted a minerals summit aimed at attracting foreign investment in the country’s mining sector. It saw participation from major international companies including Canada-based Barrick Gold and government officials from the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and other nations.
Analysts warn Indian military action against Pakistan over Kashmir attack will endanger regional peace
- Twenty-six people were killed, 17 injured when suspected militants fired at tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir
- Foreign affairs and defense analysts warn any military action from India would compel Pakistan to respond with force
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani foreign affairs and defense analysts on Wednesday condemned Indian media’s “warmongering” over the recent attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, warning that any military action by New Delhi would compel Pakistan to respond and hence, endanger regional peace.
Twenty-six people were gunned down at a tourist site in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday afternoon. The attack took place in Pahalgam, a popular resort town in the Anantnag district, where armed men emerged from forest cover and opened fire on crowds of mostly domestic tourists.
India’s defense minister reacted to the region’s deadliest attack on non-combatants in decades, vowing a “loud and clear” response will be given to those who carried out the attacks as well as those who planned it, while Pakistan expressed concern at the attack. A little-known militant group, the “Kashmir Resistance,” claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message, saying more than 85,000 “outsiders” had been settled in the region after arriving as tourists, vowing violence against such settlers.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, which they both claim fully but rule in part, and has been plagued by years of insurgent violence that New Delhi says is supported by Islamabad. Pakistan denies the accusations, saying it only provides diplomatic support to Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination.
Such attacks have historically strained ties between India and Pakistan. In 2019, a suicide bombing in Pulwama killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel and triggered cross-border air strikes, pushing the neighbors to the brink of war.
“Placing blame on Pakistan in a knee-jerk reaction, without investigation or evidence, and even engaging in warmongering is truly unfortunate,” Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary, a former Pakistani foreign secretary, told Arab News.
He said the best course of action for India would be to probe the incident dispassionately, adding that Pakistan may even cooperate with the investigation.
“But they don’t talk to Pakistan at all, I think that would help us all reach the actual perpetrators who must be punished,” Chaudhary said.
Pakistan’s foreign office, government officials and the defense ministry did not respond to Arab News’ requests for comment.
Meanwhile, geopolitical and defense analyst Lt. Gen. (retired) Ghulam Mustafa described the attack as a “false flag operation,” alleging it was deliberately planned at a time when US Vice President JD Vance was in India.
He criticized the Indian media’s coverage of the incident.
“India has to do something because they have created significant hype around this issue,” Mustafa said. “And now they must address it, likely through some form of action against Pakistan along the Line of Control.”
Former diplomat Masood Khalid said it was a pity that the Indian media was in a state of frenzy and was accusing Pakistan without evidence.
“With over 700,000 Indian troops present in IoK [Indian occupied Kashmir], one wonders how the militants could make an ingress deep inside the occupied territory,” he questioned.
Khalid hoped India would address the grievances of the people of Kashmir, saying that they were waging a struggle for their right to self-determination.
Dr. Qamar Cheema, executive director of the Sanober Institute, a think tank that focuses on issues in Pakistan and South Asia, said there is a possibility that India may further downgrade relations with Pakistan given the sensitivity of the situation.
“Indian media, often echoing government views, can shape public sentiment that justifies military action against Pakistan,” Cheema explained. “Especially as the Indian defense minister has already met with service chiefs.”
’WILL NOT TAKE IT LYING LOW’
Chaudhary said that if India launched an attack anywhere in Pakistan, it would be “most irresponsible.”
“I mean Pakistan has the capacity to defend itself and would not really take it lying low; therefore, they [India] must not get into this otherwise it can be very costly for this whole region,” he said.
Khalid agreed.
“On its part, Pakistan will be fully prepared to respond to any aggressive move by India,” he said.
A security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said India was diverting attention from the episode when the TRF had already claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Have the consequences of this hysteria been weighed? Pakistan, will not remain passive in the face of any action across its borders and the consequences will disturb regional peace,” he said.
Pakistan’s top commerce body says traders incurring $2 million daily losses due to canal protests
- Protesters are demanding the federal government reverse its ambitious project aiming to build six canals on Indus River
- FPCCI says over 12,000 vehicles, including 2,500 oil tankers, unable to reach destinations due to blockades on Sindh highways
KARACHI: The president of Pakistan’s top trade body said on Wednesday that sit-in protests blocking highways in the southern Sindh province for the past six days are inflicting daily losses of $2 million in demurrages on traders, disrupting the country’s supply chain and hampering its exports.
Lawyers, civil society activists and nationalist parties have staged sit-in protests at the National Highway in Sindh since Friday. Protesters are demanding the federal government reverse its ambitious project that aims to build six canals at Indus River. The move has triggered protests in Sindh, where nationalist parties believe the initiative would cause water shortages for the province.
Television footage shows thousands of vehicles and containers with perishable and non-perishable items stranded at various points in Sukkur, Khairpur and Larkana districts of Sindh where hundreds have blocked the highway. The protest entered its sixth day on Wednesday.
“The traders are incurring more than $2 million daily losses in demurrages,” President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Atif Ikram Sheikh said in a statement.
The FPCCI president said over 12,000 vehicles, including 2,500 oil tankers, were unable to reach their destination due to road blockades on the highway.
Sheikh said Pakistan may lose more than $50 million because of a weeklong delay in the shipment of its textile and seafood exports to the European and Middle Eastern markets.
Abdul Aleem, chief executive of the Overseas Investor Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), said the protest has halted local trade and industrial activity. He said it has also paralyzed supply chains throughout the country, sending shockwaves to the national economy.
“Over 3,500 vehicles remain stranded near Sukkur, many carrying export consignments, perishable items, and critical industrial inputs,” Aleem said in a statement.
The OICCI represents more than 200 leading foreign investors and multinational firms operating in Pakistan.
The losses are a blow to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, which says it is focused on getting rid of Pakistan’s prolonged macroeconomic crisis.
“Industries across provinces are facing shutdown risks due to raw materials stuck at Karachi Port, while exporters are missing delivery deadlines further damaging Pakistan’s credibility as a reliable trading partner and threatening future contracts,” Aleem explained.
Jawed Bilwani, president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), criticized the government for neglecting the canals issue, which he said had damaged the entire country’s economy.
He said the highway in Sindh was a key route through which shipments traveled to Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.
“All the import and export activities have come to a halt,” Bilwani said. “The gates of the seaports (in Karachi) have been shut.”
Bilwani said he would write a letter to PM Sharif to invite his attention to the crisis.
“Pakistan will go bankrupt is this situation persisted for a long time,” he said. “The country will plunge into a balance of payment crisis and goods worth billions of rupees would perish.”
Pakistan desperately wants to increase its foreign exchange reserves, which have dropped to $10.6 billion as per latest figures. The cash-strapped nation is mainly relying on the International Monetary Fund’s loan disbursement to ensure the repayment of its soaring external debt obligations, which amount to $26 billion this year.
Syed Nazir Abbas Zaidi of the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) said as many as 1,000 lorries carrying petroleum products for Sindh and Punjab provinces were stuck due to the protests.
“This may disturb the supply chain in peak harvesting season,” Zaidi told Arab News.
