Govt decides to make license mandatory for call centres

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to bring all call centres under a formal legal framework and introduce a licensing regime in response to the alarming rise in digital financial fraud across the country.

According to sources, all call centres operating in Pakistan are now required to obtain a mandatory license. This measure aims to curb fraudulent activities conducted through unregistered and unregulated call centres.

The licensing process will be overseen and approved by three federal institutions including the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and an intelligence agency.

As part of the initiative, NCCIA’s ongoing “Operation Grey” will be expanded to cover all provinces. The campaign targets organised digital fraud networks, especially those operating through suspicious or unlicensed call centres.

Sources further revealed that this crackdown is part of broader efforts to dismantle fraudulent networks exploiting fake schemes. These measures also aim to modernise the country’s cybercrime response infrastructure.

The recent operations have reportedly disrupted the Ponzi schemes used by digital scammers and contributed to identifying key players in fraudulent activities.

Earlier, The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in a raid in a scam call centre in the federal capital arrested five foreign nationals among over 65 people.

The law enforcement agency also seized record of the illegal activities at the scam call centre, officials said.

Officials said that five foreigners and more than 60 Pakistani boys and girls running operations of the scam centre were arrested during the raid in Islamabad’s G-10 Sector.

A spokesperson of the agency said that further legal action would be taken against those who provided facilities and security to these persons.