P@SHA Urges NCCIA to Stop Confusing Legitimate IT Companies With Scam Centres

Pakistan’s IT industry association, P@SHA, has urged the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to distinguish legitimate technology companies from fraudulent call centres during its crackdown on scam operations.

The association said its member companies have faced raids despite running lawful software, call centre and IT-enabled services businesses. It warned that treating genuine firms as criminal operations could undermine investor confidence and damage Pakistan’s technology exports.

Raids Without Warrants Spark Alarm

P@SHA said companies had reported NCCIA teams entering offices without presenting court-issued warrants.

According to the association, employees have been detained and questioned for hours. Authorities have also seized laptops, servers and mobile phones, even in cases where investigators found no illegal activity.

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The association stressed that legitimate IT companies and call centres operate differently from scam centres. It said authorities must verify evidence before treating registered businesses as suspicious.

Foreign Client Trust at Risk

P@SHA Chairman Dr Shoab Ahmed Khan warned that enforcement actions against legitimate companies could cost Pakistan valuable international contracts.

“Every single dollar is earned on trust,” he said.

He added that foreign clients might move their contracts to India, the Philippines or Eastern Europe after hearing that a Pakistani vendor’s office had been raided and its servers seized.

“The fraudsters lose a call centre, but Pakistan loses a market,” Khan said.

P@SHA also acknowledged that NCCIA had identified cases in which fraud operators registered their businesses as IT companies. However, the association said this made careful verification more important, rather than treating every office with computers as suspicious.

P@SHA Calls for Clear Rules on Raids

The association has outlined several measures to protect legitimate businesses while allowing authorities to pursue genuine fraud networks.

It has called for:

• Court-issued warrants: Every search should begin with a warrant presented to the company, in accordance with PECA 2016 and the Code of Criminal Procedure.
• Respectful treatment: Authorities should treat employees professionally, with particular attention to the treatment of women.
• Protection from premature publicity: Companies should not face a media trial or be publicly labelled criminals before forensic findings and formal charges.
• Joint coordination: A standing committee should bring together NCCIA, the Ministry of IT and Telecom, the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) and P@SHA to share intelligence and establish clear standard operating procedures for raids on registered IT firms.

Association Offers Cooperation With NCCIA

P@SHA said it remained willing to work with law enforcement agencies to identify and eliminate fraudulent networks operating in Pakistan.

“We will work hand in hand with NCCIA to root out the scam networks that give our country a bad name,” Khan said.

He added that the association wanted authorities to enforce the law precisely, protecting legitimate businesses rather than penalising the wider IT industry.

The association’s appeal highlights the challenge of tackling organised cyber fraud while preserving the confidence of international clients in Pakistan’s technology sector.