ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) restricted on Friday the print and electronic media from carrying advertisements of housing schemes before they were cleared by regulatory bodies.

The decision was taken to prevent innocent people from falling prey to attractive promises contained in advertisements of bogus housing schemes.

The restrictions came after a high-level meeting held at NAB’s Rawalpindi/Islamabad regional headquarters.

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It was attended by the director general of NAB Rawalpindi and heads of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Press Information Department, Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and Capital Development Authority (CDA).

“The meeting agreed that strong coordination among all regulators and marketing/advertising companies will be ensured for the verification of the credentials of housing societies and no advertisement would be published without the necessary approval from the competent authority,” said NAB Spokesman Nawazish Ali.

It was also decided that no advertisement of any housing scheme would be published if that scheme did not fulfil formalities such as obtaining approval for a layout plan and obtaining No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) from authorities concerned.

A senior NAB official told Dawn the bureau would also involve the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in the next phase so that ads of fraudulent schemes could be barred.

“In the next meeting, representatives of APNS, CPNE and PFUJ may be called so that they could assist NAB,” he said.

The official said that in upcoming meetings, the National Accountability Bureau in consultation with all stakeholders would devise guidelines for the media and regulators and would suggest punitive action against those who violated them.

The Pemra chief proposed that public service messages be telecast to highlight the parameters that must be considered by the public before purchasing property.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2014