An audit report of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for the 2024-25 fiscal year has revealed financial irregularities exceeding Rs25 billion, highlighting weaknesses in beneficiary profiling and system controls that allegedly allowed payments to ineligible individuals.
According to the audit report for 2025-26, more than 600,000 questionable cases were identified due to deficiencies in the Benazir Income Support Programme Management Information System (BISP-MIS), particularly in the profiling and verification of spouses. The audit pointed to over Rs25 billion in financial issues linked to these cases, including payments made to government employees, pensioners, vehicle owners, and individuals with duplicate registrations.
One of the major findings involved the disbursement of Rs515.7 million under the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) programme to 12,078 government employees, pensioners, or their spouses during the 2024-25 fiscal year. This occurred despite a federal cabinet directive issued in December 2019 that explicitly excluded government employees and their spouses from receiving assistance under the programme.
The audit detailed several categories of beneficiaries who were deemed ineligible. These included serving government employees in grades 1 to 17, spouses of serving employees in grades 1 to 20, pensioners, and spouses of pensioners who received payments despite restrictions under programme rules.
The report attributed the irregular payments to weaknesses in data verification, beneficiary screening, and monitoring mechanisms. Auditors noted that inadequate profiling procedures allowed ineligible individuals to remain in the system and receive financial assistance intended for low-income households.
In response to the findings, the Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) directed authorities to immediately block the identified beneficiaries and initiate recovery of the funds that were disbursed irregularly. The committee also called for stronger verification procedures to prevent similar issues in the future.
The audit findings are likely to intensify scrutiny of BISP’s management systems and oversight mechanisms. As one of Pakistan’s largest social welfare initiatives, the programme plays a crucial role in supporting vulnerable families, making transparency and accurate beneficiary targeting essential for maintaining public confidence and ensuring assistance reaches those most in need.