Private Security Companies Ordinance, 2001

The Private Security Companies Ordinance, 2001 regulates and licenses private security companies, but only within the Islamabad Capital Territory (Section 1(2) makes clear it does not extend to the rest of Pakistan). Section 2 defines a "private security company" as a company registered under the Companies Ordinance, 1984 that provides security guards or arrangements for payment, operating under a licence from the "Competent Authority" - the Chief Commissioner, Islamabad Capital Administration - via a "Licensing Officer." Section 3 exempts the armed forces, police, and individuals who simply hire their own guards for personal or business premises (rather than running a security business) from the Ordinance. Section 4 bars security company staff from wearing uniforms resembling those of the armed forces or police.

Section 5 makes it an offence to run a private security business without holding a licence. Section 6 lays out the licensing process: an applicant must first register the company under the Companies Ordinance, then apply to the Licensing Officer with the required information, documents, and fee; the Licensing Officer can refuse a licence if, among other things, an officer of the company lacks good moral character or has been convicted of fraud, or if granting it would not be in the public interest. Section 7 allows an appeal against a licensing decision to the Secretary, Ministry of Interior, within thirty days.

Section 9 sets out the main penalties: operating without a licence, breaching licence conditions, failing to display the licence, or making false statements to obtain or keep one is punishable with imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to two hundred thousand rupees, or both, with a further year's imprisonment possible if the fine goes unpaid. Section 10 lets the Licensing Officer revoke a licence for reasons including false information, relevant criminal convictions, unqualified guards, or failure to serve clients properly, after giving the licensee a thirty-day show-cause notice and a right of appeal. Section 13 allows licensed companies to possess arms and ammunition needed for their work, subject to prescribed rules. Section 14 requires every security guard to carry identification papers, and someone who carries such papers without being an actual guard faces up to one month's imprisonment and a fine of up to thirty thousand rupees. Section 15 gives the Licensing Officer, and alternatively the District Magistrate or police, powers to search and inspect suspected unlicensed premises, with obstruction punishable by up to a year's imprisonment or a fine of up to two hundred thousand rupees. Section 21 clarifies that a licensed private security company is not to be treated as a banned "private military organization" under the separate 1974 law prohibiting such organizations.