ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Post has decided to shut the Information Technology (IT) and Financial Services (FS) Wings, which deal with digital financial transactions, after a business deal to digitalize the record of more than 1.59 million military pensioners with private bank- Habib Bank Limited.
Both wings, IT and FS were working under supervision of Special initiatives department, setup 8 years ago to handle the Centralized Software Solutions (CSS) owned by Pakistan Post to digitalize the record of more than 1.59 million military pensioners, all cash account transactions and 2.3 million customers of saving bank business of Pakistan Post.
Sources said additional Director General (ADG) finance Aijaz Minhas and Deputy Director General-Special Initiatives (DDG-SI) Khawaja Imran Raza had strived for the deal with private bank HBL for branchless banking. Despite knowing the fact that it could bring the digital financial services system on verge of collapse, which was set up in 8 years with accumulated cost of Rs. 1.8 billion.
Sources in the office of DDG-SI informed The News Today that after acknowledgement of controversial business deal between Pakistan Post and HBL bank, Directorate General of Pakistan Post has decided to make inactive the IT and FS wings, which were directly dealing with digitalization of record and transaction business under the umbrella of Centralized Software Solutions.
The Pakistan Post Office Department financial services system is on the brink of collapse as 83 general post offices once again have already returned to manual transactions on February 2020 due to termination of 100 technical support engineers across Pakistan managed by third party contractor AIMS after halting the due payment of Rs 41.3 million.
The available record of Pakistan Post revealed that the public entity has injected approximately Rs 1.8 billion during last 10 years on counter-automation hardware and implementation of world’s leading software application “Riposte Essential” of Escher Group Ireland for digitization of its financial services mainly military pension payments and savings bank financial transactions, which generates 70% revenue for the Pakistan Post.
Financial Services (FS) wing of Pakistan Post Office Department (PPOD) believed that centralized software solutions has a data of all cash account transactions of the last 20 years related to financial business to the tune of approximately Rs 15 trillion.
A senior official of Pakistan Post on condition not to be named revealed that maturing the business deal with HBL Bank, the department concerned directly dealing with Rs 118 billion business opportunity has not taken the major stakeholders into confidence including State Bank of Pakistan, General Headquarters, Military Accounts General office and Finance Division to use HBL Konnect platform.
The financial services wing of PPOD believes that any transactions made through HBL Konnect platform will be a direct violation of Article 78-79-83 of 1973 constitution of Pakistan and Pakistan Finance Management Act 2019 as well.
Article 78 clause 1 of Constitution of Pakistan 1973 stated that All revenues received by the Federal Government, all loans raised by that Government and all moneys received by it in repayment of any loan, shall form part of a consolidated fund, to be known as the Federal Consolidated Fund.
Article 78 clause 2 said that all other moneys- received by or on behalf of the Federal Government; or received by or deposited with the Supreme Court or any other court established under the authority of the Federation; shall be credited to the Public Account of the Federation.
Article 79 of constitution stated that The custody of the Federal Consolidated Fund, the payment Or moneys into that Fund, the withdrawal of moneys there from, the custody of other moneys received by or on behalf of the Federal Government, their payment into, and withdrawal from, the Public Account of the Federation, and all matters connected with or ancillary to the matters aforesaid shall be regulated by Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or, until provision in that behalf is so made, by rules made by the President.
The News Today despite repeated attempts could not reach reach any of the team members of HBL dealing with this project including Baber, Waliullaha Shah, Aamir Hameed, Aamir Aslam, Umer Rafique, Ahmed Nazeer Minhaj and Omer Tariq.
Omer however promised to go through with official concerned of HBL for sharing details and answers of queries.
