Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Directorate General of Trade Organisations (DGTO), an attached department of the Ministry of Commerce, has completely failed to update its website, Daily Times has learnt.

Sources in the DGTO said that the DGTO director general (DG) had not issued any instruction to update the website. “If any organisation comes up with new information or data, it is not uploaded,” the sources said.

They said that the directorate’s top hierarchy had failed to realise that the website had not been updated for the past one year. “The information about trade cases, which earlier used to be uploaded regularly, is not be uploaded on the website now. There are a total of 50 chambers of commerce and industries, 11 women’s chambers, seven joint chambers, 122 all Pakistan trade organisations and eight town associations in the country. No information is being updated about them on the website,” sources said.

“According to rules, each trade organisation has to upload the details of its executive committee members, a list of its general body meetings, their minutes, future plans, schedule of election, voters’ lists. Take for example the case of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce, which has not uploaded the minutes of its meetings or voters’ list so far. The opposition group has registered a protest in this regard,” the source said. The sources said that the DGTO had not taken any action against any trade body or chamber for violating the rules.

DGTO Director Naseer Ahmad said that the directorate was facing a shortage of employees. “The DG decides matters regarding confirmation of trade cases and uploading them to the website. If he allows us to upload the financial matters of chambers, associations and trade bodies or their audit reports, we will obey the instructions,” he said.

DGTO DG Azhar Iqbal was contacted. However, he refused give his comments.

The DGTO was established in 2007 after the promulgation of Trade Organisations Ordinance, 2007, as a regulatory body to implement provisions of the aforesaid ordinance. The Trade Organisations Ordinance, 2007 was enacted in the shape of Trade Organisations Act, 2013 on February 22, 2013. The core function of the directorate is the registration of trade bodies under the act. It also oversees the election of office bearers and executive committee members of trade bodies and ensures that rules are followed.