ECAC staff gets up to 200% pay raise

Earlier, officers of accreditation council resigned, citing uncompetitive salary

ISLAMABAD:

The government has approved up to 200% increase in salaries of Electronic Certification Accreditation Council (ECAC) employees.

ECAC comprises five members - four members from the private sector and a chairman. It was established by the government of Pakistan in 2004 under Section 18 of the Electronic Transactions Ordinance 2002.

The council is tasked with regulating electronic transactions in public and private sectors and renewing accreditation certificates of certification service providers, cryptography services and security procedures. From financial year 2008 to 2018, regular pay scales of federal government employees were increased by around 200%.

The council proposed a pay increase of 100% whereas to comply with federal government's instructions on minimum wage, it proposed a 200% rise in the pay of officers' group IV to VIII.

Total financial impact of the pay raise was estimated at Rs4.39 million per annum.

Employees related budget amounts to Rs45 million for financial year 2020-21. The Finance Division also gave its consent to the increase in salaries of ECAC employees by up to 200%.

ECAC service regulations had been notified on March 5, 2008 with approval of the Establishment Division. Its employee structure consisted of 52 positions in the secretariat with fixed pay scales, allowances and other facilities.

In line with the service regulations, the pay scales can be revised with prior approval of the federal government. However, these had not been revised since the regulations were notified. Out of the 52 posts, 17 were advertised on August 27, 2017 as part of the first phase of recruitment.

Twelve candidates who met the laid-down criteria were given offers of appointment. Of these, three candidates refused the offer, stating that the salary package was not competitive enough.

Over a period of time, six officers submitted their resignation, citing the same reason. In October 2019, ECAC hired five persons as support staff such as drivers, dispatch rider and office boys.

Currently, the council has only eight personnel. The cabinet, in a recent meeting, was informed that the council was proactively pursuing its mandate, which was recognised in all primary and secondary legislation and was respected by all regulatory authorities. The performance of the council was regularly reviewed by the Information Technology and Telecommunication Division.

Owing to the need for specialised human resources, the council in its 25th meeting proposed the placement of a proposal for pay scale revision before the federal cabinet.

A comparison of the proposed pay scales and current pay scales of federal government employees showed that from fiscal year 2008 to 2018, the basic pay scales of regular federal government employees were increased by around 200%.

The council, being aware of financial constraints faced by the federal government, proposed a salary increase of 100% whereas to comply with government instructions on minimum wage, it proposed to increase the remuneration of officers in group-IV to VIII by up to 200%. The IT and Telecommunication Division sought approval of the cabinet for revision in pay scales of ECAC secretariat employees. After discussion, the cabinet gave the goahead for pay raise.