• Technical, operational details finalised
• Facilities to be offered through foreign missions abroad
• Set to start from Saudi Arabia, followed by other states

ISLAMABAD: The government has finalised technical and operational details for providing online digital land record services to overseas Pakistanis through its foreign missions abroad and is set to formally launch the programme next month, starting from Saudi Arabia, to attract foreign inflows.

This initiative will expand to other countries with large Pakistani diasporas such as the UAE, US, and UK within the next couple of months, followed by Spain, Italy, Canada, and so forth.

The scheme, initially to be launched jointly by the Ministry of Overseas Pak­istanis (MOP) and Punjab Land Revenue Authority (PLRA), with the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to attract investments and remittances from Pakistanis abroad.

“In order to facilitate overseas Pakistanis using information technology, it is proposed that the following land record services may be offered through the offices of community welfare attaches in foreign missions of Pakistan in countries with substantially large Pakistani diaspora (e.g. USA, UK, UAE & Saudi Arabia),” said a working paper shared with the Prime Minister’s Office.

The services included issuance of copies of record of rights (commonly known as Fard including for transactional purposes), e-Girdawari, e-registered deed, and mutation entry, as well as attestation of mutation and registration of deeds through the e-registration system.

The technical and financial details — process flows, related gadgets, fee and tax structure, etc — were finalised over the weekend at a meeting of stakeholders presided over by Secretary Overseas Pakistanis Dr Arshad Mehmood and partially participated in by the Ministry for Overseas Pakistanis, represented by Chaudhry Salik Hussain. Mr Hussain insisted that Spain, Italy, US, Canada, and England should be included in the initial phase following the launch from Saudi Arabia.

Under the agreement reached between the MOP and PLRA, 70 per cent of the service charges would go to the PLRA, which would provide most of the technical arrangements, including those in foreign missions, while the remaining 30pc would be the MOP’s share. Under the agreement, besides the existing government fees and taxes, copies of Fard, mutation, deed, or Girdawari would be provided to overseas Pakistanis at foreign missions for an additional fee of Rs10,000 each. Similarly, the entry and attestation of mutations and registration of deeds would be charged at the rate of Rs20,000 each.

The meeting gave final touches to the service-level agreement (SLA) among the stakeholders, covering all aspects of the transactions including geographic, operational, legal, financial settlement, and related issues, and expressed satisfaction over the preparedness of relevant agencies.

It was noted that PLRA had already been in this business for quite some time, thus legally and technically well-tested, but the only challenge would be to extend the node of the embassy in the value chain. PLRA is providing land record services through 151 Arazi record centres, 59 Qanoon-i-Arazi record centres, and 20 mobile Arazi record centres across Punjab. These services are also available to citizens at Dehi Marakaz Maals, in addition to limited services through Nadra centres, E-Khidmat Marakaz, and banks through the Centralised Land Record Management Information System (CLRMIS).

For operational purposes, the CLRMIS facility would be extended to Pakistani missions abroad, and copies of registered deeds would also be electronically available through the PULSE portal for registered deeds, as already available in Punjab.

The working paper noted that overseas Pakistanis currently face numerous problems, including fraud, impersonation, and adverse possession, in matters relating to land management, such as the sale and purchase of land. They bear a significant financial cost and the hassle of travelling to Pakistan to undertake land-related transactions. Alternatives to physical visits (i.e., power of attorney) are also risky and often lead to fraud, causing immense losses and additional psychological and financial burden for overseas Pakistanis.

The services would cover various scenarios, such as when both the buyer and seller are overseas, or one of them is abroad, or there are multiple buyers or sellers, with one or more of them being overseas.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2024