ISLAMABAD - Though the federal interior ministry is pondering to initiate an action against ‘defiant’ Chairman Nadra Tariq Malik for establishing an offshore company Nadra Technologies Ltd (NTL), yet it is denying the fact that the company was established in 2004 with the approval of the then prime minister, The Nation has learnt.
NTL, a subsidiary of NADRA, was established in 2004 and is registered with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (ESCP) under section (U/s) 32 of the Companies’ Ordinance 1984, a senior officer of Nadra said on condition of anonymity.
“On the direction of the then prime minister of Pakistan in May 2004, who visited Nadra, it was decided to establish a fully owned company with the name of Nadra Technologies Ltd (NTL) to undertake all-encompassing marketing in competitive markets at national and international levels, especially in the world of passports, identity cards and security documents mainly aiming at earning foreign exchange as well as creating job avenues in the field of information technology,” the official explained.
He said that following the direction of prime minister, the then NADRA Chairman established NTL with the official approval of Ministry of Interior in 2004. During the establishment of NTL, due concurrence was sought from ministry of law and justice and finance division respectively.
The company is looked after by its own board of directors, which also provides strategic guidance on operations of the company. As per the concurrence and recommendations received from ministry of law and justice, the board of director of the company comprises one member each from ministry of interior (MoI) and finance division. The members from MoI and finance division are senior officers of their respective departments. The Nadra chairman has been selected as CEO of the company by the NTL board ever since its inception in 2004.
The official said due to initiatives taken by NTL, Nadra had been successful in winning international contracts and projects from governments of Kenya, Bangladesh, Sudan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. Apart from this, the Verification Division looks after the provision of verification services, serving over 600 customers through approximately 7000 touch points with an annual collection of over 1 billion PKR.
 “Our e-Sahulat (billing switch) in a short span of 5 years has acquired over 23 per cent of the bill collection market in the country with a turnover of over Rs 8.5 billion per month providing self-employment opportunities to over 5500 individuals nationwide,” he said.
The version from the interior ministry could not be taken, as it has no official spokesman after the transfer of the last one.