ISLAMABAD: Heeding the concerns of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Information Technology (IT) industry stakeholders, the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT has asked its members to sit down with stakeholders from the industry and correct errors in the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill (PECB) 2015.“The bill has to wait before it’s tabled before parliament. The stakeholders have concerns and after hearing them, it makes sense that we put our heads together again and draft a law that is in the interest of the people,” said committee chairman retired Captain Mohammad Safdar.

He had relented to grant critics of the cybercrime bill a public hearing on Friday. In the last few meetings of the committee, the chairman had been quite firm on the fact that the bill was ready to be laid before parliament. However, following repeated requests from opposition members, he allowed stakeholders one last chance to be heard.