LAHORE: Punjab’s drive towards digital governance marked another major breakthrough on Wednesday as the eBiz Portal, launched under the Punjab Chief Minister’s vision, crossed a key milestone by offering 204 online government services, significantly expanding citizens’ access to transparent and paperless public service delivery. Launched to ensure easy, efficient, and corruption-free access to government services from home, the E-Biz Portal enables citizens to obtain a wide range of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) and permits through a fully digital, paperless approval system, eliminating delays and discretionary practices. Progress on the eBiz Portal was reviewed in a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Akhtar Zaman at the Civil Secretariat. The meeting decided to establish monitoring committees at provincial, departmental, and district levels to ensure effective oversight and timely disposal of applications. Under the decision, the provincial-level committee will be headed by the Additional Chief Secretary, departmental committees by the respective Secretaries, while Deputy Commissioners will head committees at the district level. Addressing the meeting, the Chief Secretary stated that the eBiz Portal would play a critical role in eliminating bribery and the culture of favouritism in government offices. “A transparent digital system will restore citizens’ trust in government,” he said, urging administrative officers to focus on creating maximum facilitation for the public, emphasizing that public office is a responsibility entrusted for service to the people. The Chief Secretary further stressed that the success of any reform initiative depends on teamwork, directing all departments to extend full cooperation to the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) for the successful implementation of IT reforms. The Chief Secretary appreciated the performance of departments for disposing of applications within the stipulated 15-day timeframe. During the meeting, the Chairman PITB presented a detailed briefing, informing participants that 15 government departments are currently providing 204 services through the eBiz Portal. The briefing revealed that work is underway to digitize services of all government departments, attached bodies, and offices. So far, 12,811 applications have been received through the portal, out of which 12,414 applications have already been processed and approved through the digital system. The secretaries of relevant departments including local government, health, communication and works, and tourism attended the meeting, while all divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners participated through video link. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026