ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Pakistan is preparing to launch BEEP, a new secure messaging application for government officials, in the coming months, modelled on the widely used Chinese ‘WeChat’ platform.
The app has been developed locally and is expected to begin rolling out in phases within the next two months, starting with federal ministries and their attached departments.
“The app is almost ready for rollout, and the project will meet its deadline of June 30, 2026,” the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT & Telecom was informed on Tuesday.
While giving a briefing to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee, the Chief Executive of the National Information Technology Board (NITB), Faisal Ratyal, said the app aims to provide a secure communication platform for public-sector employees across the country.
According to the CEO of the NITB, the BEEP will be integrated with the federal e-Office system, allowing officials to exchange messages, share documents and coordinate workflows within government institutions.
The app features end-to-end encryption for text messages, voice calls and video communications, making it suitable for sensitive official discussions, he added.
“The rollout is expected to start in the next two months, and it will be integrated with the federal e-Office system to allow secure messaging, document sharing and workflow coordination within government institutions,” the NITB CEO said.
The standing committee had earlier raised concerns over the security of data and official communication, keeping in view the incidents that occurred during global conflicts in 2024. The NITB CEO told the standing committee that now, new features have been incorporated into the app.
Responding to a question, Faisal Ratyal stressed that the BEEP app would be run on a usage-based fee model and efforts were underway to make the platform financially self-sustaining over time.
However, the IT secretary told the committee that revenue generation was not the primary goal, the top priority was to ensure secure, efficient, and reliable communication across state institutions.
