Complain About a Child's Rights to the Wafaqi Mohtasib in Pakistan: Helpline 1056, Free
The Wafaqi Mohtasib's Children Complaints Office takes free complaints by or for children against federal bodies. Call 1056 or file Form A at any office.
Short answer: If a federal government body has treated a child unfairly, you can complain free to the Children Complaints Office of the Wafaqi Mohtasib, Pakistan's federal ombudsman. Call 1056, or file Form A at any ombudsman office. A parent, guardian or other adult can complain for the child.
Children rarely complain to anyone official. A school that will not admit a child, an office that keeps refusing a document, a federal hospital that sends a sick child away: these usually end with a tired parent giving up. The Children Complaints Office exists for exactly those cases, and few families know it is there.
We read the ombudsman's booklet "Promotion and Protection of Child Rights" and its home page on mohtasib.gov.pk on 20 October 2026. The booklet says over 47 per cent of Pakistan's population is under 18, which is the ombudsman's own figure.
The Children Complaints Office handles complaints by or about children
The Children Complaints Office was set up inside the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat in 2008. It receives, examines and redresses complaints made by children or on their behalf, when a government or public organisation has treated them unfairly. It also promotes child rights and advises the government.
Adults can lodge a complaint on a child's behalf. If the person complaining is not the parent or guardian, the ombudsman says the parents will be told. That protects the child, and it means a teacher or neighbour can raise a case without hiding it from the family.
| Role of the office | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Receive and redress complaints | It investigates your child's case against a federal body |
| Promote child rights and welfare | It runs studies and awareness work |
| Advise the government | It flags system problems, not just single cases |
The office covers federal bodies, not private people or provinces
The Wafaqi Mohtasib's power covers federal ministries, divisions, departments, commissions and bodies the federal government controls. A complaint must be about how one of them acted. Abuse by a private person is a police matter, and provincial departments go to the provincial ombudsman.
The booklet says that since the 18th Amendment, provincial ombudsmen run their own children's complaint offices. The federal office has also told its regional offices to look after child rights in their areas. So the dividing line is the department, not where you live.
| Problem | Where it usually goes |
|---|---|
| A federal body acted unfairly toward a child | Wafaqi Mohtasib Children Complaints Office, 1056 |
| A provincial school, hospital or department | The provincial ombudsman |
| Abuse or a crime against a child | Police, or the relevant child protection body |
| A case already before a court | Not accepted while the case is pending |
Some child problems have their own specialist route. Online abuse images go to the cybercrime agency, as explained in reporting child abuse images online. Child labour in Punjab has a separate complaint path in reporting child labour.
How to lodge a complaint about a child
Write the complaint in English or Urdu on the ombudsman's Form A. File it at the Islamabad head office or any regional office, in person, through the web application or the mobile app. Attach a copy of the child's B-Form or CNIC and your letters to the department.
- Write to the federal department first and keep a copy. The ombudsman normally expects that step.
- Fill in Form A in English or Urdu. Without Form A, add a signed statement covering the four points below.
- Attach the child's B-Form or CNIC copy, your own CNIC copy and the department's reply.
- Hand it in at any ombudsman office, or file online or on the app.
- Keep the receipt. In person you get it at once; by other means within 72 hours.
If you do not use Form A, the booklet says your complaint must carry a solemn affirmation that:
- the facts are true to the best of your knowledge;
- no earlier complaint on the same matter was filed with the ombudsman;
- no court, tribunal or board case on it is pending; and
- you first raised it with the department and got no reply in reasonable time, or an unjust refusal.
The rest of the process, from receipt to hearing, follows the general Wafaqi Mohtasib complaint steps. There is no fee and you do not need a lawyer.
The ombudsman also works on street children and cybercrime
Beyond single complaints, the office studies wider problems. Its report on street children in Islamabad, released on 27 October 2022, found no child court in Islamabad and no welfare centre for girls living on the street. It also lists work on cybercrime against children.
A National Committee on Children, first formed in December 2014, advises the ombudsman. It was reconstituted and held its first meeting on 31 January 2022. The booklet credits the committee with a draft bill on child labour in 2017 and prison reforms for women and children.
If you are trying to get a child without parents onto the national record, NADRA has a specific free route, set out in registering an orphan child with NADRA. For a girl at risk of an early marriage in the capital, see stopping a child marriage in Islamabad.
Common questions
What is the Wafaqi Mohtasib's child complaints helpline?
1056. General complaints use 1055. Both numbers are on the ombudsman's home page.
Can a child complain directly?
Yes. The office takes complaints made by children as well as those made on their behalf.
Can someone other than a parent complain?
Yes. If the person is not the parent or guardian, the ombudsman says the parents will be informed.
Is there a fee?
No. Filing a complaint with the Wafaqi Mohtasib is free.
Can I complain about a provincial school?
Not here. Provincial departments go to the provincial ombudsman, which runs its own children's complaints office.
When do I get a receipt?
At once if you file in person. Within 72 hours if you file by post, online or on the app.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked 20 October 2026. The office's history, roles, filing rules, the 47 per cent figure, the street children findings and the committee dates come from the ombudsman's booklet Promotion and Protection of Child Rights, dated August 2024, which we read on 20 October 2026. The 1055 and 1056 helplines come from the Wafaqi Mohtasib home page, read the same day. The booklet is two years old, and we could not find a newer count of children's complaints or the office's current staffing.
About the author
Public Services and Education Journalist
Fajr Riaz is a journalist and content writer at Pakistan Era, based in Lahore. She covers the questions people meet in everyday life in Pakistan: how a public service works, what a change in the rules means, and where to find a reliable answer.
