The BISP audit irregularities for 2024-25 have reached Rs25.7 billion, the Auditor General’s report shows, including payments to government employees, pensioners and ineligible beneficiaries, duplicate stipends and serious flaws in beneficiary records.
The Auditor General’s report found the programme paid money to people barred from it, recorded the same identity documents against several women, and kept thousands of cases without the basic record needed to prove entitlement.
BISP audit irregularities: who received money they should not have
The audit found that 12,078 government employees, pensioners and their spouses received Rs515.712 million despite their exclusion from the programme under a federal cabinet decision of December 2019.
Another Rs13.041 million was paid in 261 cases involving beneficiaries or their spouses who had travelled abroad, according to the report. The audit also identified payments to vehicle owners, ineligible students and beneficiaries with incorrect marital-status records.
BISP had 10.02 million active beneficiary households during the financial year. The inclusion error rate stood at 6.8 per cent, above the prescribed 5 per cent benchmark, while the exclusion error rate was 13.27 per cent, against the permissible 10 per cent.
Auditors blamed weak data verification, poor information-sharing between departments and weak enforcement of eligibility rules.
The identity card problem at the heart of the audit
The sharpest concern was identification. In 5,598 cases, one spouse’s computerised national identity card (CNIC) was linked to as many as seven women, involving payments of Rs239.035 million.
In another 596,252 cases, beneficiaries’ records lacked their spouses’ CNIC details, involving Rs25.460 billion. Together, the 601,850 cases amounted to Rs25.699 billion. The audit sought an explanation from NADRA and recommended independent verification of spousal relationships.
The report also found 97,179 cases with multiple Proxy Means Test (PMT) scores against the same household head in the prescribed period, which allegedly led to 18,964 wrongful enrolments and potential misallocation of Rs533.536 million.
Vehicle ownership was another concern. A sample review of 275,000 Islamabad cases found 1,719 beneficiaries owning vehicles beyond eligibility limits. They had received Rs69.744 million, prompting auditors to seek field verification.
Duplicate stipends in the education scheme
In the Benazir Taleemi Wazaif programme, 165 schools already receiving full government assistance through Pakistan Baitul Mal were also enrolled, resulting in duplicate stipends of Rs17.690 million.
Another 278 government employees were registered as higher secondary students instead of their children, resulting in conditional payments of Rs202.546 million to their mothers.
Diamer-Bhasha Dam audit raises separate alarms
A separate audit report found billions of rupees in irregularities, procurement violations, unauthorised payments and administrative lapses at the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project, one of Pakistan’s most important water and energy schemes.
The Auditor General’s Audit Report 2025-26 puts physical progress at 19.95 per cent by June 2025, against financial progress of 39.67 per cent, a wide gap between money spent and work done.
One major objection concerns land acquisition funds. More than Rs73.31 billion was transferred to the bank account of the Chilas deputy commissioner and land acquisition collector between October 2010 and June 2021, although it should have gone into the government treasury first.
The audit also found the deputy commissioner moved more than Rs4.96 billion from the land funds to 24 private banks, a violation of treasury rules. The Auditor General has recommended an investigation and fixing responsibility.
The report also questioned the main dam contract, worth more than Rs442.40 billion, given to a joint venture of Power China and the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). The price was 31.47 per cent above the allocation in the project’s PC-I.
A pattern, not a one-off
This is not the first time auditors have found large problems at BISP. Our earlier report on October 23 covered a separate audit finding of Rs24 billion in irregularities involving government employees. The new report shows the problems run deeper than a single audit.
The dam findings fit the same pattern. Our November 5 report on mega-dam cost surges recorded rising costs at Bhasha and Dasu, and an October 30 report covered the same cost overruns in detail. The audit now adds the missing piece: money spent far ahead of work done, and land funds handled outside treasury rules.
The government has meanwhile claimed a 22-year low fiscal deficit, which makes the audit findings harder to square with the official story of improving public finances.
The audit has asked for explanations and independent verification. Whether anyone is held responsible will decide if these reports change anything or join the long list of findings that were noted and forgotten.
Frequently asked questions
How much did the BISP audit find in irregularities?
Rs25.7 billion in total, across 601,850 cases. The largest share, Rs25.46 billion, involved cases missing spouses’ CNIC details.
Who received payments they were not entitled to?
Government employees, pensioners and their spouses received Rs515.712 million despite a 2019 cabinet decision excluding them. Payments also went to people who had travelled abroad, vehicle owners and ineligible students.
What did the audit find at Diamer-Bhasha Dam?
Physical progress was 19.95 per cent by June 2025 against financial progress of 39.67 per cent. The audit flagged Rs73.31 billion in land funds kept outside the treasury, Rs4.96 billion moved to private banks, and a Rs442.40 billion construction contract 31.47 per cent above the PC-I allocation.
Has BISP faced audit findings before?
Yes. A separate audit finding reported on October 23 put irregularities at Rs24 billion, also involving payments to government employees.
