KARACHI: The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) has expressed serious concern over a growing number of raids by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on legitimate software and IT-enabled services companies-carried out in the name of the ongoing crackdown on scam centres.
P@SHA has also suggested to establish a joint NCCIA, P@SHA, the Ministry of IT & Telecom (MoITT) and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB)coordination and grievance committee to review complaints, share intelligence on scam operators and agree SOPs for raids on registered IT firms.
According to P@SHA, it has received complaints from member firms about searches conducted without warrants, prolonged questioning of employees and the seizure of laptops, servers and mobile phones, even in cases where no unlawful activity was found.
The association warned that such actions disrupt services to foreign clients, expose confidential client data to potential risks and create an environment of fear among employees and investors.
P@SHA has demanded that NCCIA should differentiate legitimate call centres & IT companies from scam centres as it considers call centres legitimate and doesn’t regard scam centres as call centres.
P@SHA reaffirmed that the IT industry supports law enforcement and accountability but stressed that investigations must follow due process, transparency and proportionality. It urged authorities to avoid actions that disrupt legitimate business operations, restrict access to essential equipment or create uncertainty for businesses, warning of potential damage to Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.
The industry fully supports every lawful, evidence-based operation of the law enforcement agencies against them. However, P@SHA has received complaints from member companies that teams have entered offices without showing a warrant, held and questioned staff for hours, and taken laptops, servers and phones into custody, even where nothing unlawful was found. Such actions halt client delivery, put confidential foreign client data at risk, and create fear among employees and investors.
P@SHA has stressed that IT is the only industry of Pakistan’s economy growing consistently at around 20 with USD 4.6 billion IT exports in FY26. While, the government has set a target of USD 10 billion by FY29 under Uraan Pakistan.
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Dr Shoab Ahmed Khan, Chairman of P@SHA, said that every dollar earned by Pakistan’s IT industry was built on trust. A foreign client who learns that its vendor’s office has been raided and servers seized will not wait for a forensic report. Instead, the client may shift the contract to India, the Philippines or Eastern Europe. “Fraudsters may lose a call centre, but Pakistan loses an entire market,” he said.
He said that the NCCIA has itself said that some fraud operators register their businesses as IT companies. P@SHA said this is exactly why enforcement must differentiate the two with care, instead of treating every office with laptops and a night shift as a suspect.
“We will work hand in hand with NCCIA to root out the scam networks that give our country a bad name and we only ask that the law be enforced with precision; so that the honest majority of the IT industry is protected, not punished,” Dr. Shoab added.
The technology sector cannot grow in an environment where businesses remain uncertain about whether their operations, employees, and essential work equipment may be subjected to disruptive actions without transparent procedures, he warned.
P@SHA has urged the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to ensure that all raids on registered IT companies are conducted under court warrants and established standard operating procedures (SOPs), with employees treated respectfully, particularly women.
It has called for verification of company registration with the PSEB and P@SHA before any action, and proposed on-site forensic imaging instead of unnecessary seizure of equipment, with unrelated devices returned within seven days. It further called for an end to harassment, physical mistreatment of employees and disruption of CCTV systems or digital footage during raids.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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