Islamabad, July 28, 2025: The federal government has directed that all electricity, telephone and gas bills must now include printed QR codes to allow digital payment options.
This move was confirmed during a session led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to a national newspaper.
In a separate development, the Petroleum Secretary and OGRA Chief have been given one month to draft a strategy requiring QR codes, Point of Sale (PoS), and soft PoS systems at every fuel pump across the country.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been assigned the task of examining current regulations to make digital payment methods compulsory across various services and utilities.
READ MORE: Digital Payments Surge Past 2 Bln, Transaction Value Reaches Rs154 Tln
To back this digital shift, the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will increase the subsidy limit to Rs. 3.5 billion. Banks will be allowed to impose a maximum Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of 0.25%. Any extra charges beyond this limit will be taken care of by the service providers themselves.
The sub-committee handling government payments will also update rollout schedules after discussing them with provincial authorities.
