Information about NPO's registration laws

1. Nudrat Mufti

2. Not-for-Profit Organizations(NPOs )
NPOS
ESTABLISHED FOR
THE PROMOTION
OF AN AMATEUR
SPORTS
DEVELOPMENT
PURPOSES
EDUCATIONAL,
WELFARE
RELIGIOUS,
CHARITABLE
HTTP://WWW.CB
R.GOV.PK
TAX EXEMPTION
FROM DONATION
TAX EXEMPTION
FOR ALL
ACTIVITIES
THE
COMMISSIONER
ANY PERSON
OTHER THAN AN
INDIVIDUAL
THE STATUS OF
ARTIFICIAL LEGAL
PERSON
INCOME TAX ACT
2[(36

3. Growth Of Public Sector
Capacity
Responsiven
ess
Participation
Accountability
Sustainability

4. YEAR HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1980-1984 Recognizing the use of NGOs .
Promulgate Societies, Trust Act, Co-operative, Voluntary ,Control Ordinance of 1961 and the Joint Stock
Companies Ordinance
Zia regime Mushroom growth of voluntary organizations
1994 Social Welfare Agencies (Registration and Regulation) Act, 1996 –unified, registration authority
1996 Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif proposed a bill to eliminate civic education
1998-99 Government launched a campaign against 2,500 NGOs
October 2002 The Freedom of Information Ordinance was promulgated. purpose was less to ensure a citizen’s right to know and
more to deflect pressure from international donors
2002-2009 Guideline For Accounting And Financial Reporting-the Institute Of Chartered Accountants Of Pakistan
Development Organizations, Private Voluntary Organizations, Civil Society Organizations, Non Governmental
Organizations, Non-Profit Organizations, Charities.
2011-2012 The National Commission for Human Rights Bill-2012.
draft regulation of Foreign Contribution Bill 2012purpose of the Draft Law is to regulate and prohibit acceptance
and utilization of foreign contribution for any activities detrimental to national interest.

5. Key International Agreements Ratification Year
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR NO
Optional Protocol to ICCPR (ICCPR-OP1) NO
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR)
YES -2008
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize
Convention No International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)
Yes-1966
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW)
Yes-1996
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women
No
SAARC convention on regional arrangements for the promotion of
child welfare in South Asia
YES
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Yes-1990
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW)
No
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) No

6. Major Challenges Faced
Pakistani NPOs faces distinct challenges due to inadequate resources,poverty,inadequate
legal environment ,weak implementation, economic and political instability and a
deteriorating security situation in the region. Other challenges are
• Outdated, unclear and inadequate laws.
• Available laws are restricted in scope and do not provide a framework in which NPOs
could perform their role in an effective manner.
• A vast range of conventional social sector areas
• No research-based advocacy for reforming (modernizing/revolutionizing)and/or
consolidating (or unifying) relevant laws, policies, notifications and regulations
• Absence of NPOs participation in the policy making and decision-making processes
• No forums or enforcement mechanisms to convey citizens’ as well as NPOs’ voice and
demands
• No institutions for registration, redress for grievance, track outlines etc.
• Non existence of public dialogue around the legislative framework, related to NPOs and
challenges being faced in improving the performance of NPOs in a sustainable manner
• Absence of women’s full participation in internal governance of NPOs
• the absence of a code of conduct for partnership between donors, NGOs and
Government.

7. • Which kind of organizations can be registered under the law?
• Who would be the registration authority?
• Which kind of mandate/objectives can be registered under the law?
• Which document is considered as evidence of registration?
• How the process of tax exemption takes place?
• What is the internal governance of registered organizations and how it is administered?
• What is the importance of the memorandum of association or articles of association?
• What policies of registration or organization are required and how they operate?
• What is the point of registration if registration authorities cannot act as watchdog bodies over
NPOs/NGOs and ensure that they are functioning according to their stated objectives and
through legal means
Consolidated Law

8. LegalFrameworkForNPOsInPakistan?
TYPE A
I-The Societies Registration Act,
1860http://www.ngosinfo.gov.pk/user/The%2
0Societies%20Registration%20Act,%201860.as
p
II-The Trusts Act, 1882
http://www.ngosinfo.gov.pk/user/TheTrustsAc
t1882.doc
III-The Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies
(Registration and Control Ordinance), 1961
http://www.ngosinfo.gov.pk/user/voluntary_s
ocial_welfare_agencie.asp
IV-The Companies Ordinance,
1984http://www.secp.gov.pk/corporatelaws/p
df/CompOrd1984(Nov2006).pdf
TYPE B
I-Religious Endowment Act, 1863
II-The Charitable Endowments Act, 1890
III-The Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1913
IV-The Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923
V-The Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1930
TYPE C
I-The Charitable and Religious Trusts Act, 1920
TYPE D
I-The Income Tax Ordinance, 1979
II-The Income Tax Ordinance, 2001
TYPE E
I-The Cooperative Societies Act, 1925
II-The Industrial Relations (Trade Unions) Ordinance, 1969
TYPE F
I-The Registration Act, 1908
TYPE G
I-The Charitable Funds (Registration of Collection) Act, 1953
II-Minimum Wages Ordinance, 1961
III-Employees’ Social Security Ordinance, 1965
IV-The West Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing
Orders) Ordinance, 1968
V-The West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance, 1969
VI-Employees’ Old Age Benefits Act, 1976

9. National, RegionalAnd ProvincialDepartments
 Industries and mineral development department
 Labor department
 Director industries
 Securities and exchange commission (SECP)
 Commissioner income tax
 Federal Board Of Revenue(FBR)
 Foreign NPOs: MOU with Economic Affairs Division (EAD)
 Cabinet Division Ministry of Social Welfare
 Provincial Social Welfare Departments
 Kashmir council
 Department of Industries
 Social Welfare Departments of the Province
 District Governments
 Deputy commissioner office
 City magistrate office
 Tahsildar
 Etc.

10. Success Matrix Of A Project
•Advancement of
• religion, knowledge,
commerce, health and safety of
the public &any other object
beneficial to mankind
•Government Effectiveness, Regulatory
Quality,
• Rule of Law
•Political Stability and Absence of
Violence
•Control of Corruption
•Voice and Accountability
•Economic growth
•Promoting civic participation,
•Oversight state institutions in Pakistan,
•Achieve good governance (Policy
Advocacy and Government) Oversight,
•Organizational Development and Targeted
Trainings
•To undertake advocacy and lobbying
activities for the enactment and
implementation of improved legislation.
•To encourage greater coordination
among civil society initiatives and
individual efforts
NPOs MENDATE
GIVEN IN THEIR
CHARTER/
MOA/
AOA
PROJECT
OBJECTIVES
WORK SCOPE
GIVEN UNDER
REGISTRATION
LAW
DONORS
OBJECTIVE
(INTRNATIONAL
SCOPE)

11. Articles/books
• Ahmad, Mustafa Nazir & Malik, Nadeem. (2000, May). Citizens and Governance: Civil
Society in the New Millennium. Commonwealth Foundation and South Asia
Partnership-Pakistan.
• Ahmad, Mustafa Nazir. (2001). Strengthening Civil Society.Annual Review South Asia
Partnership-Pakistan .
• Ali, Syed Mohammad. (2005, April 12). Revamping Support to Civil Society. Daily
Times.
• Babar, Farhatullah. (2004, April 26). People’s Right to Know. Dawn.
• Barber, Benjamin R. (1995). Jihad vs. McWorld. Time Books.
• Bayart, J-F. (1986). Civil Society in Africa . Political Domination in Africa. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
• Chandoke, Neera. (1995). State and Civil Society: Explorations in Political Theory.
Sage.
• Dajani, Dr. Munther. (1997). The Concept of Civil Society. Polict Analysis.
• Directory of Intermediary NGOs in Pakistan. (2000). Pakistan: NGO Resource Center.
• Fatton, R. Jr. (1995, September). Africa in the Age of Democratization: The Civic
Limitations of Civil Society. African Studies Review

12. Webbased references
• Government of Pakistan Central Board of Revenue http://www.cbr.gov.pk
• Government of Pakistan Ministry of Law, Justice & Human Rights http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/law-division
• Government of Pakistan Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education, NGO Electronic Database
http://www.ngosinfo.gov.pk/user/main.asp
• National Council of Social Welfare http://www.ncsw1.gov.pk
• Other
• Aga Khan Foundation http://www.akdn.org/agency/akf.html
• The Asia Foundation http://www.asiafoundation.org/Locations/pakistan.html
• Asian Development Bank – Pakistan http://www.adb.org/Pakistan/default.asp
• NCL-Pakistan (NGO’s Computer Literacy Shelter Welfare RWP) http://www.geocities.com/nclpakistan/?20073
• Net-NGO.com, Guide to NGOs in Pakistan http://www.net-ngo.com
• Pakistan Development Gateway http://pdg.org.pk/national/Hrd.asp
• Pakistan Virtual Library Cultural Associations and NGOs http://www.southasianist.info/pakistan/culassoc.html
• Social Policy and Development Centre http://www.spdc-pak.com