I RECENTLY had a query regarding the authority letter for LLP formation. I decided to contact Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

Their email for ‘queries’ rejected my initial email as spam. I sent my email to ‘complaints’; there was no reply. Ten days later, at about 3pm, I called the SECP’s toll-free number. After four minutes of ringing, a lady picked up the phone and gave me the number of the Karachi’s company registration unit, but it was invalid.

I called up SECP again, but after a full 10 minutes of ringing, I gave up. I eventually found the correct number for the Karachi office from the website. I called up, waited for five minutes. No one picked up.

I emailed the focal person for Karachi, but am yet to receive a reply to a simple question. I understand that the SECP must be busy with FATF right now, but that doesn’t mean that they can neglect small and medium enterprises.

Government departments must take e-government seriously, or at least should respond when they are contacted by phone. Now I think I will have to go to the SECP office amid a pandemic.

Abdul Moiz Abbasi
Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2020