PMO Orders Nationwide Raast QR Rollout by August 2025

News Desk

Islamabad: In a major push towards a cashless economy, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has directed all federal secretaries, provincial chief secretaries, and heads of regulatory bodies to ensure that retail outlets within their jurisdiction obtain and display Raast QR codes by August 31, 2025.

The directive was issued by the Prime Minister’s Advisor, Syed Tauqeer Ali Shah, to top bureaucratic and regulatory officials, including Kamran Ali Afzal, Secretary Cabinet Division; Dr Muhammad Fakhre Alam Irfan, Secretary Power Division; Momin Agha, Secretary Petroleum Division; and provincial chief secretaries from Punjab, Sindh, KP, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and AJK.

Heads of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration were also among those notified.

According to the PM’s Advisor, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has developed a national implementation strategy to promote digital payment acceptance infrastructure, including Raast QR codes, Point of Sale (POS), and Soft POS systems across all retail and commercial outlets in the country.

The SBP has urged all chief secretaries, regulatory authorities, and concerned departments to ensure that businesses under their jurisdiction adopt digital payment systems. However, recognizing the cross-cutting nature of the initiative, the Prime Minister’s Office was requested to reinforce and coordinate the nationwide rollout.

To that end, the PMO has instructed all federal ministries and provincial authorities to undertake the following priority actions:

Instruct businesses and retail outlets to obtain and display Raast QR codes by August 31, 2025.

Make digital payment readiness (such as QR codes or POS systems) a mandatory requirement for the licensing or renewal of commercial operations.

Establish a compliance and enforcement mechanism, including penalties for non-compliant outlets.

Facilitate integration and collaboration with SBP and its regulated entities (banks, micro-payment service providers, and Electronic Money Institutions).

To ensure smooth coordination and monitoring, the PMO has appointed Dr. Shazia Ghani, Team Lead for Special Projects & Initiatives, as the focal person for the initiative. Ministries have been directed to coordinate with Dr. Ghani and SBP to address operational challenges and ensure timely implementation.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is reportedly working on developing a cashless payment mechanism for Government-to-Person (G2P) and Person-to-Government (P2G) transactions, aimed at improving transparency and efficiency, particularly in State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).

Revised targets for the SBP—approved by the Sub-Committee on Digital Payments Innovation and Adoption—include:

Increasing active digital commerce payment points (QR codes) to 2 million from the current 0.5 million.

Ensuring each merchant performs at least one digital transaction per month.

Expanding the number of mobile/internet app and digital banking users to 120 million from 95 million by FY2026.

Doubling digital transactions to 15 billion from the existing 7.5 billion.

Achieving 100% digital disbursement of remittances into bank accounts or wallets (up from the current 80%).

This nationwide push is seen as a crucial step in Pakistan’s transition towards a digitally integrated economy, enhancing transparency, financial inclusion, and economic efficiency.

Input from Business Recorder.