Restaurant POS Integration in Pakistan (2026): PRA, SRB and KPRA Rules Explained
PRA sent 70+ notices to restaurants in two days. Here is who must integrate their POS in Punjab, Sindh and KP, the reported penalties and what your POS has to do.
· Deixtra
On 1 October 2026, the Punjab Revenue Authority said it had sent more than 70 notices in two days to hotels, restaurants and marquees that weren't issuing bills through its electronic invoice system. Some restaurants that ignored earlier notices had already been fined, and PRA said repeat offenders would face legal action.
That followed an August announcement of "zero tolerance" enforcement across Punjab, with handwritten receipts, kitchen order slips and pre-bills barred at hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and marriage halls. Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have their own systems and their own rules, and they've been tightening too.
We build POS software for restaurants and retailers in Pakistan, and the question we hear most from restaurant owners is simple: "Which authority do I report to, and what does my POS have to do?" This guide answers that for Punjab, Sindh and KP. Where a figure comes from news reports or a vendor and not the authority itself, we say so. Sources are at the end.
Do restaurants in Pakistan have to integrate their POS with the tax authority?
Yes, in most cases. Restaurant services are taxed by the provinces, so a restaurant reports to its provincial revenue authority: PRA in Punjab, SRB in Sindh and KPRA in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Each one runs a system that receives every bill from your POS in real time and puts a verifiable invoice number or QR code on the customer's receipt. Who is covered depends on the province and, in Punjab, on your turnover.
Why isn't this FBR's job?
Because restaurants sell a service, and in Pakistan most services are taxed by the provinces. FBR's digital invoicing covers supplies under the federal Sales Tax Act 1990, which is mainly about goods. A restaurant can deal with both. If you also sell packaged goods, manufacture or import, your FBR obligations sit alongside your provincial ones. We covered the federal side in our guide to FBR digital invoicing.
Keep the two separate in your POS. A bill sent to PRA doesn't count as an FBR invoice, and the other way round.
How do the three provinces compare?
Punjab (PRA) | Sindh (SRB) | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPRA) | |
|---|---|---|---|
System | Electronic Invoice Monitoring System (E-IMS) | SRB POS integration | Restaurant Invoice Monitoring System (RIMS) |
Who must integrate | Restaurants with turnover of Rs 6 million or more | SRB's FAQ says it's mandatory for all restaurants under its online integration rules | All restaurants registered with KPRA, under the 2024 Finance Act |
Penalty for not following the system | Reported as Rs 400,000 to Rs 1 million, with sealing for up to a month on repeat (not confirmed in a PRA document) | Rs 100,000 to Rs 1 million, with sealing on repeat (2024 Finance Act, per EY) | Rs 100,000 or 5% of the tax involved, whichever is higher, per instance (2024 Finance Act, per EY) |
Tax rates and rules change with each provincial budget, so check the current Finance Act for your province before you rely on any of these figures.
What are the PRA rules for restaurants in Punjab?
The requirement comes from the Punjab Electronic Invoice Monitoring System Rules 2019, made under the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act 2012. In 2024 PRA lowered the threshold for restaurants from Rs 10 million to Rs 6 million in annual turnover. Once you cross it, you have to install E-IMS. One compliance guide notes that the test is turnover, not profit, and that a slower year later doesn't take you back out.
In practice, your POS sends each bill to PRA's server, PRA returns a fiscal invoice number, and the receipt has to show your business name and address, the receipt number and PRA's QR code. Customers can scan it to check that the tax they paid was reported.
Enforcement in 2026 has been visible:
On 8 August, PRA announced a zero tolerance policy for E-IMS across Punjab.
From 10 August, handwritten receipts, kitchen order slips and pre-bills were barred at hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and marriage halls.
On 1 October, PRA said it had issued more than 70 notices in two days, and that some restaurants had already been fined.
PRA's October statement didn't give fine amounts. Figures of Rs 400,000 to Rs 1 million per violation, and sealing for up to a month on repeat, were widely reported in August, but we couldn't find them in a PRA document. Treat them as a likely range, not a quote from the law.
The pre-bill rule catches a lot of places out. If your staff print a "check" from the POS for the customer to review before payment, make sure your setup handles that the way PRA expects. Ask your POS provider, or PRA in writing.
What are the SRB rules for restaurants in Sindh?
SRB's FAQ states that integration is mandatory for all restaurants covered by its special procedure for online integration of businesses, introduced in 2022. Integrated systems give each sale an SRB invoice number and QR code, and customers can check a bill through the SRB Tax App or the "Verify POS Invoice" service on SRB's website.
Sindh also ties the tax rate to how the customer pays. As of the 2024-25 tariff, the standard Sindh sales tax on restaurant services was 15 percent, and 8 percent when the customer pays by debit or credit card, mobile wallet or QR code. A restaurant can ask SRB for permission to charge 15 percent on digital payments too, but only for branches whose POS is integrated with SRB. In July 2024, Geo reported that only 58 restaurants out of more than 1,700 registered with SRB had that permission.
So in Sindh, POS integration affects more than compliance. Your POS has to know the payment method on every bill and apply the right rate, or you'll either overcharge customers or underpay SRB.
The 2024 Finance Act raised Sindh's penalty for e-invoicing non-compliance to between Rs 100,000 and Rs 1 million, with sealing possible for repeat offences and up to a year's imprisonment on conviction by a Special Judge, according to EY's summary of the changes.
What are the KPRA rules for restaurants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?
KPRA started rolling out RIMS in January 2021, beginning with three restaurants in Kohat, Nowshera and Abbottabad. At the time, restaurants with RIMS paid 5 percent sales tax instead of 8 percent.
The 2024 Finance Act changed that, according to EY. The restaurant rate became 6 percent without input tax adjustment, and RIMS has to be installed and working properly at every restaurant registered with KPRA. The penalty for not following e-invoicing, issuing bills outside the system or not uploading them in real time is Rs 100,000 or 5 percent of the tax involved, whichever is higher, for each instance.
KPRA is also the most open of the three about how integration works. It publishes developer documentation for RIMS, which is useful even if you're in another province, because it shows what these systems expect.
How does POS integration actually work?
KPRA's published documentation gives a clear picture. There are two ways to connect.
The first is a Windows utility from KPRA, installed on the restaurant's PC. Your POS sends each bill to the utility on the same computer, and the utility queues it and forwards it to KPRA. If the internet drops, billing carries on and the bills sync when the connection comes back.
The second is KPRA's live API. The POS sends each bill straight to KPRA over HTTPS, which means it needs internet for every bill.
Each bill carries the restaurant's NTN, a POS ID and a secret key issued by KPRA, plus the invoice number, the amount before tax, the tax rate, the tax amount, the total, the date and time and, optionally, whether it was paid in cash or by card. The QR code on the receipt points to a KPRA web address built from the POS ID and invoice number, so a customer can check it. If a bill is cancelled or reduced, the POS sends a separate credit note that refers back to the original. The original isn't edited.
PRA and SRB work on the same idea, but they don't publish their technical details as openly, so your POS provider will need to get the specifics from them.
What does your POS need to do?
Whichever province you're in, check that your POS can:
Send every bill to the provincial system as it's issued, from every counter and every branch.
Keep billing when the internet drops, and send the queued bills later without duplicates.
Print the authority's invoice number and QR code on the receipt.
Record the payment method and, in Sindh, apply the right tax rate for cash or card.
Handle cancellations and refunds with a credit note, not by deleting or editing the bill.
Cover takeaway, delivery apps, catering and marquee bookings as well as dine-in.
Report to FBR separately if you also sell goods that fall under federal sales tax.
The delivery-app point gets missed a lot. If an order comes in through a food delivery platform, ask your POS provider and your tax adviser how that bill should be reported, and make sure it isn't left out.
How do you get integrated?
Confirm which authority you're registered with, and in Punjab, check your turnover against the Rs 6 million threshold.
Ask your current POS provider in writing whether their software is integrated with that authority, and for which version.
Register with the authority's integration process. KPRA, for example, issues a POS ID and key against your NTN.
Install and test. Run real bills through it, including a card payment, a cancellation and a takeaway order, and scan the QR codes yourself.
Train your counter staff. Tell them that handwritten bills and unreported pre-bills aren't allowed.
Check every month that the number of bills in your POS matches what the authority received.
What does it cost?
None of the three authorities publishes an integration fee for restaurants that we could find. Your costs are the POS software (or the upgrade to an integrated version), a computer and receipt printer if you don't have them, and a reliable internet connection. Several POS vendors advertise "free" integration with PRA, SRB or KPRA. That usually means the integration is included in their software subscription, so compare the total yearly cost.
Against that, set the reported penalties and, in Sindh, the tax rate difference between cash and card payments.
Common mistakes we see
Integrating the main counter and forgetting the second counter, the takeaway window or another branch.
Printing a QR code that doesn't come from the authority's system. Customers can scan it and see it isn't real.
Giving customers pre-bills or kitchen slips as receipts in Punjab.
Charging 15 percent on card payments in Sindh without SRB's written permission.
Cancelling a bill by deleting it, instead of issuing a credit note.
Assuming FBR digital invoicing covers restaurant services. It doesn't.
Key takeaways
Restaurants report to their province: PRA in Punjab, SRB in Sindh, KPRA in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In Punjab, restaurants with turnover of Rs 6 million or more must use E-IMS, and PRA has been issuing notices and fines through 2026.
SRB says integration is mandatory for restaurants in Sindh, and the tax rate depends on whether the customer pays by cash or card.
KPRA requires RIMS at every registered restaurant and publishes its integration documentation openly.
Reported penalties range from Rs 100,000 per instance to Rs 1 million, with sealing for repeat offences.
Your POS has to report every bill from every counter, work offline, print the authority's QR code and handle credit notes.
Frequently asked questions
Is POS integration mandatory for restaurants in Punjab?
Yes, for restaurants with annual turnover of Rs 6 million or more, under the Punjab Electronic Invoice Monitoring System Rules 2019 as amended in 2024. Other services have a Rs 10 million threshold, according to compliance guides.
What is the penalty for not using PRA's E-IMS?
PRA hasn't published the amounts in its recent statements. Fines of Rs 400,000 to Rs 1 million and sealing for up to a month on repeat were widely reported in August 2026, but we couldn't confirm them in a PRA document.
What is the restaurant tax rate on card payments in Sindh?
As of the 2024-25 tariff it was 8 percent for card, wallet and QR payments, against 15 percent for cash. Restaurants with SRB's written permission and an integrated POS can charge 15 percent on card payments as well. Check SRB's website for the current rate.
How can a customer check if a restaurant bill is genuine?
Scan the QR code on the receipt. In Sindh you can also use the SRB Tax App or the "Verify POS Invoice" service on SRB's website. KPRA's QR codes open a verification page on its website.
Does my restaurant need FBR digital invoicing too?
Only for supplies that fall under the federal Sales Tax Act, such as goods you sell, make or import. Restaurant services themselves are reported to your provincial authority.
Can I keep billing if the internet goes down?
With KPRA's Windows utility, yes. Bills queue locally and sync later. For PRA and SRB, ask your POS provider how their integration handles outages before you rely on it.
What is RIMS?
RIMS is the Restaurant Invoice Monitoring System run by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority. It receives each restaurant bill in real time so KPRA can see the sale and the tax collected.
Need a POS that's integrated with PRA, SRB or KPRA?
We build POS and inventory software for restaurants and retailers across Pakistan, and we connect existing systems to provincial and federal tax authorities. If you're not sure your setup reports every bill correctly, send us the details on WhatsApp and we'll come back with a written scope and a fixed quote.
This is a practical guide, not tax advice. Provincial rates, thresholds and penalties change with each budget, so confirm your position with your revenue authority or tax adviser.