This was disclosed at a meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Commerce headed by Senator Shibli Faraz on Thursday who termed NICL as a 'disgraced' company and asked the Ministry and NICL to rebrand the company with the objective of jettisoning its notorious past. Commerce Minister, Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan, former Finance Minister Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, Senator Ilyas Bilour, Senator Mufti Abdul Sattar, Senator Saud Majeed, Senator Rubina Khalid, Senator Naseema Ehsan and Senator Haji Saif Ullah Khan Bangash attended the meeting. At least four Senators Mufti Abdul Sattar, Rubina Khalid, Naseema Ehsan and Haji Saif Ullah Khan Bangash did not utter a single word but by their presence justified their TA and DA.
Secretary Commerce Younas Dagha informed the committee that after assuming the charge, he visited different organisations including NICL and got updates on different issues. According to him, NICL has been directed to undertake a special audit of the three years of the PPP tenure and re-evaluate property purchased during those years as the evaluation of property, including Dubai property undertaken by a private firm, was apparently exaggerated.
Chairman standing committee requested Secretary Commerce, who was recently transferred from Ministry of Water and Power, to give a detailed presentation on energy issues. CEO NICL Captain Jamil Akhtar Khan informed the committee that NICL has completed the audit for 2010 and 2011 which has been finalised and approved whereas accounts for the subsequent years are being audited on a fast-track basis and are expected to be finalised by September next.
He said the company ran without a CEO and a Board for about five or six years after the property scam was unearthed and a number of actions were taken by the then management which were illegal. This also included payment of illegitimate claims. A hot discussion was witnessed between Chairman Standing Committee, Shibli Faraz and Senator Saleem Mandviwala on NICL property scam with Mandviwala disputing the loss of Rs 3 billion due to purchase of property at higher price. However, Senator Ilyas Bilour who was the Chairman of Senate Committee on Commerce during PPP's term confirmed that the property was purchased at exorbitant rates.
"We requested a special audit because after the arrest of Ayaz Niazi, neither a CEO nor a Board was appointed for five years and we need to cover this period through special audit aimed at streamlining the company," he added. The committee was further informed that a number of inquiries/investigations have already been carried out in the past. A comprehensive report has been discussed at the Board as well as at Ministry level. FIA has recently asked for a report along with list/details of irregular appointees. The then Chairman is already facing investigation, two of the then selection committee members have since expired, two have been dismissed from service by the present Board while the remaining two have retired.
According to the CEO, an inquiry into property purchase scam is still pending with NAB. At this Minister for Commerce Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan said that NAB and FIA are to be pursued for active follow-up of cases. NICL in its presentation to the committee said that surplus funds amounting to Rs 11.50 billion of the company has been invested in National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Term Deposit Receipts (TDRs) at optimum rates.
Board has completed pending inquiries in respect of a suo motu case and dismissed certain senior officers and overall expenses have been rationalized and curtailed drastically. The long-outstanding matter of pensioners has been resolved and merger of CCC with NICL is already on fast track. Board of Directors (BoD) has constituted various committees to facilitate and implement well thought-out decisions by the Board.
The Board, along with the CEO is currently focused on the following matters: (i) strategies are being developed with special attention towards CPEC project; (ii) future utilisation of NICL's properties; (iii) effective controls with full accountability/check and balance system are being implemented; and (iv) all legal case are being rigorously pursued.
CEO informed the committee that the company has suffered a Rs 600 million financial loss due to lower POL prices. Secretary Commerce said that the company has been directed to come out of "guaranteed" insurance of public corporate sector like Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and gas companies and enter the private sector market. The committee also discussed working and performance of State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan (SLIC) and embezzlement of Rs 106 million of policy holders.
The Chairman State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC) Naveed K. Baloch gave a presentation to the committee with the comment that the entire dependency of the $ 7 billion company is on policyholders as the company has not gone for product differentiation. Bank insurance is entirely in the domain of private insurance companies like EFU, Adamjee, etc.
Baloch who assumed the charge on April 17, 2107 also acknowledged that the company is facing capacity issues including accounting procedures. "We are not updated on IT and accounting procedures. The company is facing NAB inquiry with respect to embezzlement of Rs 106 million which was done due to lack of accounting and IT procedures. The fraud was done from 2000 to 2015 and responsible official is still an absconder," he added.
He maintained that until the company adopts international best practices and hires professionals at market rates it would be difficult to compete with other insurance companies.
Senator Saleem Mandviwala enquired about the State Life Insurance Corporation Bill 2016 already approved by the Senate Standing Committee. Commerce Minister did not give any deadline for its passage from the NA committee which is insisting on clause-wise reading.
The officials of Intellectual Property Organisation also gave a detailed presentation regarding its functions and performance. The committee was informed that draft law on Geographical Indication (GI) is ready which would be informally discussed jointly with the standing committees of Senate and National Assembly prior to tabling it in Parliament.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017