KP Assembly passes promotion of digital payment bill 2026

PESHAWAR, Aug 21 (APP): The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly here on Friday passed the Promotion of Digital Payment Bill 2026.

Provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam moved the motion for approval of the bill, which was subsequently passed by the house.

The primary objective of the bill is to digitize public and private financial transactions and reduce reliance on paper currency.

The legislation aims to make the payment of bills and various fees easier, reduce corruption and paperwork, and ensure that citizens have access to secure financial services from their homes.

The lawmakers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday raised questions on several issues, including the number of minorities in the province, scholarships for students, and illegal mining.

The session, chaired by Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi, began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, a hadith, and the national anthem. During question hour, MPA Askar Parvez raised a question regarding the number of minorities in the province. He said he had sought minority population statistics from the department, but the department had provided data from the 2023 census.

He said the actual number of minorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was much higher, while only 12,000 minority students had applied for scholarships. He said the department should have provided figures based on its own records and demanded that the matter be referred to the standing committee.

Parliamentary Secretary Sultan Room, in his response, said that according to the 2023 census, the number of minorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was 154,967.

Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi said the relevant minister was not present in the house and directed the mover of the question to sit with the parliamentary secretary and compile complete data.

Meanwhile, the house referred to the standing committee a question raised by MPA Shazia Tehmash regarding alleged irregularities in agreements for extracting gold from rivers.

Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Ashbar Jadoon raised a question about government measures to curb illegal mining in the province. Law Minister Aftab Alam said illegal mining was not taking place on a permanent basis, although temporary incidents could not be ruled out.

He said that 1,004 FIRs had been registered against illegal mining over the past six months, while 1,165 reports had also been filed. The law minister said amendments were being introduced to strengthen the law and increase penalties in order to effectively eliminate the practice.

Meanwhile, MPA Nilofar Babar moved a calling-attention notice regarding the emergency situation at District Headquarters Hospital Chitral. She said the hospital had only eight beds for emergency patients, while transferring patients from Chitral to other districts was also difficult.

She called for immediate measures to increase the number of beds, appoint additional staff, and improve medical facilities at the hospital.

Health minister Khaliqur Rehman said DHQ Lower Chitral was included in the development scheme and work would begin soon. He said eight beds were allocated for men and six for women, while three additional beds had been added following the hospital’s transfer to a new CCU building. He said the government was making efforts to provide better healthcare facilities to the people of Chitral.

On the occasion, MPA Fazal Elahi moved a calling-attention notice regarding the upgradation of DHQ Hospital Hazarkhwani. He said the project had been approved during the 2014-15 financial year but had remained incomplete for the past decade, causing difficulties for citizens.

Health minister Khaliqur Rehman said it was also surprising to him that the DHQ Hazarkhwani ADP scheme had still not been completed. He said the DHQ had been included in the ADP again this year and assured the House that it would be included in the development portfolio during the current year.

Fazal Elahi demanded that the matter be referred to the standing committee to determine the reasons for the delay. Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi directed that the matter be sent to the standing committee.

Government MPA Shafiullah Jan, speaking on a point of order in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, raised the problems faced by overseas Pakistanis. He said Pakistanis working in Gulf countries to support their families were an extremely valuable asset to the country and sent billions of rupees in remittances, but had been facing difficulties for several months.

He said that when overseas Pakistanis arrived at airports to return abroad after spending their holidays in Pakistan, they were sometimes offloaded on the grounds of visa-related problems.

He said the consequences affected not only the individual but also their entire family and the future of their children.

He demanded that the government raise the issue diplomatically with the relevant countries and find a permanent solution to the problems faced by overseas Pakistanis.

MPA Abdul Karim said that despite submitting documents for the renewal of residence permits in Dubai, some individuals had their permits cancelled. He further alleged that some people applying online for passports from Dubai and Saudi Arabia were placed in the verification process, which sometimes remained incomplete for years.

Opposition Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) MPA Adnan Khan said the visas of some people travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan for holidays were also cancelled. He said another major issue is that some people’s passports were allegedly blocked without justification, while effective measures were not being taken to resolve the problem.

The lawmakers demanded effective coordination with the federal government and relevant institutions to resolve the problems faced by overseas Pakistanis. Given the importance of the issue, Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi directed lawmakers to bring a joint resolution on the matter.

A heated exchange and uproar erupted between treasury and opposition lawmakers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly over the health of PTI founder and the treatment being meted out to him.

Government MPA Sajjad Barkwal said the entire world had witnessed the way PTI founder had been treated. He said political opponents had sent him back to Adiala Jail after a routine medical check-up.

During Sajjad Barkwal’s remarks, PML-N MPA Sobia Shahid pointed out that the House lacked the required quorum, triggering an angry reaction from treasury members, who stood up from their seats. A loud commotion then erupted, creating a tense atmosphere in the House. Protests from both sides turned the chamber into a scene of chaos, with lawmakers shouting over one another.

Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi repeatedly directed members to remain silent and return to their seats, but the uproar continued.

Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Arbab Usman said it was unfortunate that the government benches were often empty and that the sanctity of the House should be respected. He said that even ministers were absent from sessions despite there being 92 government members.

After a two-minute break, the session resumed with the required number of lawmakers present. However, Sobia Shahid continued to protest and disrupt proceedings. The deputy speaker expressed her displeasure and told her, “You are not standing in a guest house; you are standing in the Assembly. Please sit in your seat.”

Sajjad Barkwal subsequently continued his speech, saying that people were concerned about PTI founder health and that the opposition was afraid of his popularity. He alleged that whenever government members spoke about PTI founder, their opponents prevented them from speaking.

Sajjad Barkwal further claimed that attempts had been made at every level to reject the court’s decision. According to him, his leader was taken to hospital at the last moment, while his personal physician and a member of his family were deliberately kept away. He described this as highly inappropriate treatment and a violation of the court’s decision.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi suspended Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Sobia Shahid for two weeks for what he claimed of disrupting Assembly proceedings.

Acting under Rule 227, the deputy speaker directed security personnel to escort the suspended member out of the House. However, Sobia Shahid refused to leave her seat.

During Friday’s session, government MPA Sajjad Barkwal was speaking about Khan’s health when Sobia Shahid pointed out the lack of quorum and began creating a disturbance. Despite repeated directions from the deputy speaker to remain silent and maintain order in the House, Sobia Shahid continued speaking, prompting the deputy speaker to suspend her for two weeks under Rule 227.

Government MPA Nazir Abbasi appealed to the deputy speaker to withdraw the suspension, saying that shouting and disorder were not part of parliamentary tradition and that matters should be discussed with patience and restraint.

Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi said maintaining parliamentary decorum was the responsibility of every member. She said she had repeatedly asked the woman lawmaker to return to her seat, but she continued speaking and also tried to have other members removed from the House.

The deputy speaker said the matter could be reconsidered if Sobia Shahid assured the House that she would not disrupt proceedings in the future.

JUI MPA Adnan Khan apologized on behalf of the opposition, saying that the house should not be allowed to descend into disorder when the leader of any political party was being discussed.

However, he said the agenda had been given priority while the issue concerning PTI founder had been pushed aside, which, he argued, reflected the performance of the government’s quorum.

He said Sobia Shahid had pointed out the quorum in accordance with Assembly rules and that the Assembly was like a jirga, where every member should be heard with patience.

Provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam responded by saying that PTI founder was a leader known throughout the world, but that the Assembly’s agenda was prepared and conducted according to the decisions of the Speaker’s chair. He said that if the opposition attempted to run the House through what he described as blackmail, Rule 227 should be applied.

Aftab warned that if opposition members continued to disrupt proceedings by repeatedly pointing out a lack of quorum, the government would not respond to any of their business in the future.

Finally, Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi read out the orders suspending Sobia Shahid for two weeks and adjourned the Assembly session until August 24.