UNISAME URGES SMEDA LEGAL SERVICES TO EDUCATE SMEs ON CYBER CRIME BILL

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has urged the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) to convene a session to explain the salient features of the Cyber Crime Bill passed in the national assembly to the SME sector before it becomes an act in law.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said since SMEDA has a very efficient legal services department which provides free legal aid to the SMEs all over Pakistan. Its provincial branches in all the provinces have law officers who are well versed in regulatory, mercantile and criminal law and are offering expert legal advise to the SMEs. The Cyber Crime bill must be explained to the sector in letter and spirit to make the SMEs aware of its benefits and also its sensitive features as a precaution to avoid mistakes and not crossing boundaries which may result in penal action.

Thaver in a meeting with Feroze Ahmad manager legal services SMEDA, Sindh said the Cyber Crime bill is a sharp document which demands careful study and understanding and the SME sector must be made aware of its characteristics and features properly. He said the corporate sector enjoys the benefit of its own legal departments whereas the SME sector relies on SMEDA for guidance and legal advise and it is the responsibility of SMEDA to educate the sector on this subject.

UNISAME also requested SMEDA law officers stationed in the provinces to make the SMEs aware of the facility of online FIRs and the correct procedure involved for lodging complaints against victimization and offenses.

Secondly UNISAME again reiterated its demand for an SME Liaison Committee (SME-LC) in SMEDA offices for liaison between the entrepreneurs and the several agencies operating in the provinces under the federal government and the provinces under various acts.

The SMEs sometimes suffer from high handedness of officers and sometimes because of lack of knowledge about prevailing laws and respective acts. The SME-LC could highlight the rights and duties and educate the sector to protect its rights and also shoulder the responsibilities.

Posted in: Press Releases