LAHORE: Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz has said that there is a huge increase in the number of complaints, lodged with the ombudsman office, compared with the last year. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, he said the Federal Ombudsman office received 120,000 complaints and disposed of 114,000 from January till date, whereas, in the previous year, the number stood at 75,000.
By the end of the current year, the ombudsman office would receive 140,000 complaints and he hoped that 135,000 would be decided. He said the Lahore office received 17,000 complaints so far whereas it had received 12,000 complaints last year.
He said that it was very easy to approach the federal ombudsman office for redressal of the complaints. He said anyone could lodge his complaint through email, mobile app, and written application or may appear in person whereas the process did not involve any cost. He said that on receiving a complaint, the office initiated the process immediately and most complaints were decided within 60 days.
He said that besides Islamabad head office, there were 13 regional offices across the country where a complaint could be lodged. He said that if anyone could not appear in person, he could send the application online and they were also given an opportunity of online hearing.
He said that consultants and advisers of the ombudsman office also visited remote areas, under its outreach programme, for hearing public complaints and receiving complaints through open public forums at their doorsteps.
He clarified the federal ombudsman office only dealt with complaints about federal government institutions whereas the people should approach the provincial ombudsman office for redress of their complaints against provincial departments.
In response to a question, he said the public complaints against electricity distribution companies remained on the top, followed by complaints related to gas distribution companies. He said the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and post office remained on number four and five, respectively, in terms of the number of complaints received.
When asked, he said that special attention was being paid to resolve the issue of pension of retired railway employees and a meeting was scheduled for Nov 24 for the purpose and hoped that the issue would be resolved.
He said that special efforts were being made to raise awareness among masses about the function of the ombudsman office and seminars, press conferences and other events were being arranged regularly for the purpose.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020