KARACHI – Pakistani freelancers continue to face Form R and plethora of paperwork, which eventually slowed down their hard-earned export payments. But now, the State Bank of Pakistan has rewritten the rules, passing on relief to ten of thousands.
State Bank of Pakistan unveiled series of groundbreaking reforms for IT exporters and freelancers to streamline processes, eliminate redundant paperwork, and enable export transactions to be processed within a single day, giving the country’s technology exports a competitive edge.
Under new rules, IT firms and freelancers will no longer need to submit Form R for every export transaction. Instead, a single declaration detailing the nature of services provided will be submitted once at the time of opening a new account, or for existing users, as needed. This marks a dramatic simplification of bureaucratic procedures.
Export proceeds and transfers from ESFCA (Exporters’ Special Foreign Currency Accounts) will now be processed within just one working day, ensuring that IT businesses and freelancers receive their payments faster than ever.
Documentation requirements have been standardized, providing clarity and uniformity for overseas transactions. Banks have also been instructed to set up effective systems to promptly resolve complaints from IT companies and freelancers, ensuring smoother operations.
The reporting process has been simplified through amendments to Form R, Inward Remittance Voucher (IRV), and Form M, while the threshold for Form R has been raised above $25,000, making life easier for exporters. Banks are also directed to digitize forms and implement auto-population features for basic user data, making business processes more seamless than ever.
The central bank is hopeful to boost IT exporters’ performance to drive the growth of Pakistan’s technology exports on the global stage.
