Federal Ombudsman stresses timely complaint resolution at regional offices

KARACHI, Aug 03 (APP):The Federal Ombudsman Naveed Kamran Baloch, reviewing the performance of regional offices of Sindh on Monday, stressed on immediate action for timely complaint resolution at the regional level to further facilitate the masses.

He was chairing a meeting with all Investigating Officers at the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat, Regional Office Karachi, attended by Coordinator for Sindh and Member, Amir Ahmad Shaikh, senior advisor Syed Anwar Haider, and other advisors and senior officers.

The Federal Ombudsman received a comprehensive briefing on the performance and resolution of complaints related to various departments. He was informed that the Karachi Regional Office resolved around 25,591 complaints during the first half of 2026, compared to a total of 37,802 complaints disposed of in the whole year 2025. Utility providers like SSGC and K-Electric along with NADRA accounted for the highest percentage of complaints received at the Wafaqi Mohtasib regional office.

Through the Informal Resolution of Disputes (IRD) mechanism, 627 disputes had been resolved from January onwards in 2026, surpassing the corresponding figure for last year, the meeting was briefed. Moreover, the implementation rate of investigative findings this year stands at 82%, with 4,148 out of 6,024 cases implemented, while 1,876 cases are awaiting implementation.

The Federal Ombudsman appreciated the establishment of new regional and local offices to expand the accessibility and fast-track the process from receipt of complaints to their timely resolution. He also enquired about the strength of Investigating Officers in the regional offices and the monthly volume of cases received. He was apprised that the Karachi regional office receives around 4500 cases every month and has a sufficient number of Investigating Officers to deal with the cases, however, owing to higher workload, the RO Hyderabad and other regional offices as well required more investigation officers.

Wafaqi Mohtasib expressed contentment over the conduct of a merit-based recruitment for vacant positions in the regional offices, which received an overwhelming response from young applicants.

Naveed Kamran Baloch also reviewed matters related to promotion of Federal Ombudsman Secretariat employees at regional offices and the acquisition of land from the provincial government for new office units. The meeting, discussing a comprehensive, inclusive and progressive service structure, agreed to further improve procedural measures relating to employee promotions and incentives for eligible officials.