LAHORE: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with M/s 1LINK to launch an online (automated) mechanism to facilitate cashless payments for its services.

The collaboration with M/s 1LINK, leading authorised service provider for online payment services in Pakistan, will facilitate cashless payments for all types of HEC services through 1Bill via mobile phones or internet, enabling students and other users of HEC portals to make rapid online payments.

The online payment facility will be integrated with the HEC system and the users of its portals will be able to submit online fees through M/s 1LINK for different services provided by the commission.

The facility will cover online payments for local as well as foreign degree equivalence, national and foreign scholarship programmes, and Education Testing Council (ETC) tests in the first phase, and degree attestation in the second phase. It will save time and introduce efficiency and transparency in line with the government’s vision.

HEC Accounts Section in charge Parvez Iqbal and M/s 1LINK Chief Executive Officer Najeeb Agrawalla signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations.

The ceremony was attended by HEC Adviser (Coordination) Awais Ahmed, Director Operations (PERN) Adullah Fayyaz Chattha, Director General (Finance) HEC Ghulam Nabi, Fawad Raza, Deputy Director (IT) HEC, Faisal Rafiq, Deputy Director (IT) HEC, Muhammad Awais Javed, Assistant Director (IT) HEC, Muhammad Bashir Khan, Chief Operating Officer, 1LINK and Umer Ansari, Head of Business Development, 1LINK.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Agrawalla said the HEC customers will be able to use mobile and internet banking and over-the-counter services across Pakistan. The best part about 1LINK is that it is subjugated to the bank-agnostic model, which relates to all the major banks in Pakistan. Mr Ghulam Nabi and Mr Nazeer Hussain also spoke.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2022