KARACHI – Pakistan Single Window (PSW) and the Sindh Excise, Taxation & Narcotics Control (ET&NC) Department have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) following the integration of the Sindh ET&NC Department with the PSW. Sindh ET&NC services such as collection of the Sindh Infrastructure Development Cess (SIDC), submission of applications/requests for SIDC exemption/waiver, recording of Bank Guarantees and their release thereof, can now all be availed through the PSW system. Additionally, PSW shall also enable Sindh ET & NC, through integration with the Sindh ET&NC Motor Vehicle Registration system, to access and verify information pertaining to imported and auctioned vehicles at the time of registration.
Sindh ET&NC is the first provincial department to have integrated its cross-border trade related processes with PSW. Through process re-engineering and backend automation, PSW enables seamless exchange of data between traders, Pakistan Customs, and Sindh ET&NC facilitating collection of Cess in a transparent manner. PSW has provided an interactive and user-friendly interface to the Sindh ET&NC Department which offers a range of utilities to the ET&NC officer including MIS reports pertaining to SIDC Bank Scroll, SIDC Payment details, Exemption and Bank Guarantee reports.
In a statement released from his office, CEO PSW Syed Aftab Haider said, “PSW is an emerging success story for digitalization and integration of government processes and approvals both at the national and international levels. By expanding the system to provincial authorities and private sector service providers, PSW is moving towards creating a truly national platform for cross border trade. We are grateful to the Sindh ET&NC authorities for supporting this initiative”.
The Pakistan Single Window initiative led by Pakistan Customs aims at reducing the time and cost of doing business by digitalizing Pakistan’s cross-border trade and eliminating paper-based manual processes. The PSW, a public sector company incorporated under Section 42 of the companies Act, 2017 has been notified as the ‘Operating Entity’ of the PSW system by the Federal Government under the provisions of the PSW Act, 2021. PSW aims to provide an integrated electronic platform that allows parties involved in international trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit regulatory requirements. In order to ensure optimal benefits of the PSW system to the traders as well as public sector regulators, Section 3(3) of the PSW Act 2021 makes it mandatory upon Customs and Other Government Agencies (OGAs), as listed in the schedule to the Act, to align their respective laws, regulations, procedures, processes and other information requirements related to regulation of imports, exports, transit trade and associated transport with Pakistan Single Window.
