Online Systems
What the exam tests
The exam tests practical fluency with the authority's digital channels: which transaction is filed where, what evidence is uploaded, and what makes an electronic record defensible.
What runs online
- Registration and licensing portals for new applications, variations, renewals and fee payment, with a tracking number and status history.
- Import channels, increasingly through the Pakistan Single Window, where DRAP clearance sits alongside customs and other agencies; the import authorisation or NOC precedes consignment clearance.
- Pharmacovigilance reporting portals for industry and health professionals, and public registers for checking whether a product or premises is licensed.
- Payment and receipting, with the generated evidence linked to the application.
Rules that carry marks
An online submission is a legal submission: the declaration is signed by an authorised person, and uploaded documents must be complete, legible, attested where required and in the required format. Electronic records must meet data-integrity expectations - unique user accounts, no shared logins, controlled corrections, retained audit trails, and records available for inspection. Scanned signatures are acceptable only where the system allows; a PDF of a licence is still a copy, and the original may be required for verification. Where a system is down, use the documented contingency and keep a dated record.
Worked example
An applicant uploads a GMP certificate expiring in three weeks. The portal accepts the file, but technical evaluation checks validity at the decision date, not the upload date, so the certificate is queried. Check expiry against the expected decision date.
Traps
Assuming portal acceptance means approval; using a colleague's login; uploading illegible stamps; failing to link payment to the application; relying on a screenshot instead of the official status record.