The country’s IT industry body has raised alarm over NCCIA raids on software houses and call centres, saying legitimate companies are being treated like scam centres in the ongoing crackdown on online fraud.
The Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITES (P@SHA) said it supports lawful action against fraud networks, but urged the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to clearly separate genuine IT and IT-enabled services firms from illegal operations.
According to the association, member companies have complained that NCCIA teams entered offices without showing warrants, held and questioned staff for hours, and took laptops, servers and mobile phones into custody even when nothing unlawful was found.
Why P@SHA Says NCCIA Raids Hurt IT Exports
P@SHA said such actions disrupt services to foreign clients, put confidential client data at risk and create fear among employees and investors. Chairman Dr Shoab Ahmed Khan said: “Every single dollar is earned on trust.” He added that a foreign client who hears that a vendor’s office was raided “moves the contract to India, the Philippines or Eastern Europe. The fraudsters lose a call center, but Pakistan loses a market.”
| IT exports FY2025-26 | Record $4.6 billion (up from $3.8 billion) |
| Annual growth | Around 20% |
| Target under Uraan Pakistan | $10 billion by FY2028-29 (national goal $15 billion) |
| Freelance exports | Up about 51% in first nine months of FY2025-26 |
| Computing graduates | More than 70,000 a year |
What the Association Wants
- Warrants and SOPs: every search under a court-issued warrant shown at the start, in line with PECA 2016 and the criminal procedure code, with respectful treatment of staff, especially women.
- Verification first: checking a company’s status with PSEB and P@SHA focal persons before acting.
- Evidence without shutdowns: forensic copies made on site instead of seizing whole systems, and unrelated equipment returned within seven days with a seizure memo.
- Client data protection: strict chain-of-custody for foreign client data.
- No media trials: companies should not be publicly labelled before any finding.
How NCCIA Raids Affect You
For IT workers and freelancers, the dispute matters because foreign contracts and jobs depend on clients trusting Pakistani firms. At the same time, scam call centres defraud citizens at home and abroad, so the crackdown itself has wide support. P@SHA noted that the NCCIA has acknowledged some fraud operators register as IT companies, which it said makes careful verification more important, not less.
What Happens Next
P@SHA has asked for an urgent joint meeting with the Minister for IT and Telecom, the Interior Ministry and the NCCIA Director General, and said it will share specific cases reported by member companies. “We will work hand in hand with NCCIA to root out the scam networks,” Dr Khan said.
For official updates, visit the P@SHA website.
Read More: NCCIA Raids Illegal Call Centre Lahore, 37 Held
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