• Forms committee to investigate ‘self-awarded’ pay hikes
• Panel will also examine salary delays at state-run media

ISLAMABAD: Amid rising complaints over misuse of power by the top management of regulatory bodies for personal benefit, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered a probe into such issues, including an assessment of their legal standing, to improve oversight, transparency and accountability.

The move comes following public discourse, including at parliamentary committees, that leading regulators of major economic sectors, established to ensure transparency and accountability, were themselves allegedly involved in self-serving decisions.

Some of these regulators include the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), where top brass allegedly enhanced their emoluments without government approval. In his immediate directive, the prime minister sought explanations in the affairs of the SECP through a probe committee and expanded its scope to other regulators as well.

The prime minister has constituted a seven-member committee to probe the controversial increase in salaries and allowances of the commissioners of the SECP and the causes of delays in salaries, pensions and other liabilities of the employees of Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan.

The committee, led by prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, includes Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, federal secretaries of the finance, cabinet and information divisions, the director general of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) and an additional secretary of the information division.

The committee has been tasked to “inquire into the enhancement of salaries and allowances of SECP Commissioners, assess the legality and propriety of such actions, and recommend measures to strengthen oversight, transparency, and accountability in the regulatory bodies”.

The prime minister also authorised the committee to look into any related or ancillary matter that may come before it during the course of the proceedings.

Additionally, the committee has been tasked to investigate delays in payments to employees of Pakistan Broadcasting, Pakistan Television, and other information ministry bodies and evaluate the commercial viability and sustainability of state-owned enterprises.

A two-week deadline has been given to the panel to submit its report for the prime minister’s orders.

Over the last two months, senators belonging to both the treasury and opposition have been calling for the abolition of “conflict of interest” clauses in laws relating to the SBP and SECP, under which their top officials fixed their own salaries and emoluments without government approval.

At a recent Senate Standing Committee on Finance meeting, Senator Anusha Rehman highlighted that the 2022 SBP amendment allows the central bank’s board, led by the governor, to set pay and perks for its governor and deputies.

“This is serious conflict of interest,” she said, and demanded that the powers to fix salaries and emoluments of the SBP governor and deputies should go back to the government. She had already moved amendments to the SECP law.

Senators pointed out that similar powers were available to the SECP chairman, and the matter did not come under discussion until the incumbent’s Rs 381 million in benefits surfaced following audit objections. This signified a misuse of powers that were otherwise allowed by law.

Meanwhile, Nepra has also increased the salaries of its five members and chairperson on its own, although this was subject to government approval under the Nepra Law.

Former Senate chairman Farooq Naik argued, while legally allowed, the mind-boggling salary increases should be subject to accountability, as they represent a clear misuse of powers.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2025