Pakistan govt employees to get locally developed secure messaging app, 'Beep'

Islamabad: Pakistan is set to roll out a locally developed secure messaging app, "Beep," for government employees in the coming months, local media reported on Wednesday.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecom was informed on Tuesday that the messaging app inspired by the Chinese social media platform WeChat is almost ready for launch and is expected to meet the project deadline of June 30, 2026, the Dawn newspaper reported.

National Information Technology Board (NITB) Chief Executive Faisal Iqbal Ratyal said that "Beep" had been locally developed and certified by relevant government agencies for official use, such as the National Computer Emergency Response Team (NCERT), which has formally cleared the application for official use.

The Standing Committee Chairman, Syed Aminul Haque, directed the NITB to ensure the timely rollout of the application.

“The purpose of launching Beep is to provide a secure messaging platform for public sector employees nationwide,” Ratyal told the committee. He added the launch would take place in a phased manner, starting with federal ministries and associated departments.

The app will be rolled out in the next two months and will be integrated with Pakistan’s federal e-Office system, enabling secure messaging, document sharing and workflow coordination within government institutions.

According to the NITB, Beep will offer end-to-end encryption for text messages as well as video calls used by government officials.

Ratyal stressed that additional security features had been incorporated to address the concerns raised by the committee members amid recent global incidents that underscored vulnerabilities in digital platforms regarding data security and the protection of official communications.

Beep’s encryption standards had been strengthened to make it suitable for sensitive discussions, Ratyal added.

The platform would operate on a usage-based fee model, and efforts were underway to make it financially self-sustaining over time, said the NITB chief.

Officials said Beep’s servers would be based in Pakistan, with stricter security safeguards inspired by WeChat, while noting that although WhatsApp is a widely used platform for voice calls, video calls and media sharing, its data servers are located outside the country.

The committee was also briefed that the federal e-Office system had been introduced to reduce paperwork and improve transparency, and that integrating Beep was expected to strengthen internal coordination and reduce operational risks.