According to reports, freelancers in Pakistan earned $150 million from FY 2019-20 alone, with exports to 120+ countries. Considering the growth in freelancers’ earnings, DigiSkills.pk, one of the government’s training programs equipping the youth with freelancing training, conducts “Ignite Awards for Top Freelancers” annually to discover Pakistan’s highest-paid freelancers and highlight their achievements.
Ignite’s event will recognize the Top 10 earners of DigiSkills.pk who will receive awards by Ignite. IT ministry’s officials will be present at the event.
Therefore, all DigiSkills.pk trainees, who earn either from international or local clients/platforms, have been requested to submit their proof of earning via the Learning Management System (LMS) of DigiSkills.pk. The proof can be a URL for trainees’ profile on the freelance marketplace, a screenshot of earnings from the freelance marketplace, screenshots from local financial services such as JazzCash, Easypaisa, bank statement or a similar document.
To be eligible for Ignite awards, the freelancers are required to submit their earnings’ monthly record on the DigiSkills.pk LMS under the ‘Success Stories’ section by the 25th of every month. In July 2021, Ignite will consolidate all earnings data based on documents submitted by freelancers from February to June 2021 to identify the top freelancers for the awards.
Here is the process through which freelancers can submit their details to DigiSkills:
According to the organization, the financial documents will remain in the custody of DigiSkills.pk and will not be shared with the tax authorities. However, it needs to be noted that the FBR is continually sending tax notices to the IT industry and freelancers, inviting constant criticism from the IT minister.
Read More: DigiSkills Freelancing program’s graduates make $200 million annually.
