KARACHI (Kashmir English): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday abolished the requirement of Form ‘R’ for freelancers and IT companies; instead, they will now provide a one-time declaration.
The state bank introduced new measures to facilitate IT exporters and freelancers by introducing a set of reforms to promote exports of digital services in the country. These reforms aim to accelerate the pace of development of the IT sector by removing bureaucratic hurdles.
“These reforms are designed to simplify the export realisation procedures, standardise documentation requirements, set transaction processing timelines, and strengthen complaint resolution mechanisms,” said a circular by the SBP.
Under the facilitation measures, IT companies and freelancers will provide a one-time declaration, clearly specifying the nature of services being offered overseas, at the time of opening a new account and, for existing customers, as and when required.
The State Bank has made it mandatory for banks to process requests for collection or remittance of money from foreign currency accounts within a maximum of one working day (24 hours).
The SBP said that the authorised dealers (banks) will tag the relevant service and purpose codes to the exporters’ accounts for reporting and processing export transactions, unless advised otherwise by the exporter.
The limit for submitting Form ‘R’ has been increased to USD 25,000, which will reduce the administrative burden on small and medium freelancers.
All banks have been directed to set up a special internal system for the timely redressal of complaints of IT exporters.
The State Bank has encouraged the digitization of Form ‘R’, Inward Remittance Voucher (IRV), and Form ‘M’ and provided the facility of automatic data entry in them.
The central bank expects that these measures will improve the flow of remittances and make it extremely easy for the youth working in the IT export sector to do business.
Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja, while welcoming the reforms, said that an effective complaints system has been created for IT exporters and freelancers, and the measures will contribute to the promotion of IT exports and the freelancing sector.
