PRA eIMS is the Electronic Invoice Monitoring System operated by the Punjab Revenue Authority under the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act 2012, through which PRA sees each individual service transaction at the moment it happens rather than as a monthly total. Two turnover thresholds decide who is inside it, not one, and on 10 August 2026 PRA moved against handwritten receipts at restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and marriage halls.
What eIMS is
Sales tax on services in Pakistan is a provincial subject. In Punjab it is levied under the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act 2012, and administered by the Punjab Revenue Authority. eIMS is the mechanism through which PRA sees the individual transaction rather than a monthly total.
It runs on the Punjab Electronic Invoice Monitoring System Rules 2019, made under section 76 of that Act. In practice, a business inside eIMS registers each outlet with PRA, receives a POS ID and an access token, and from then on submits each invoice electronically at the point of sale. PRA returns an invoice number, and the printed receipt carries a QR code. Anyone holding that receipt can check it against PRA's public eIMS verification page, which is also where PRA publishes its own eIMS user manual and installer.
That verification page is the honest test of whether a business is compliant. A receipt that cannot be looked up is not an eIMS receipt, whatever it looks like.
Who it applies to: two thresholds, not one
This is where most published guidance is wrong, and the error is checkable.
Rule 3 of the eIMS Rules 2019 originally set a single threshold of ten million rupees or above. It was amended by PRA notification No. PRA/Orders.06/2023/441 dated 9 July 2024, published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary) on 15 July 2024 as Notification 109 of 2024. The amendment substituted the words "ten million rupees or above" with "six million rupees or above in case of restaurant services and ten million rupees or above in case of all other services". You can read the gazette page yourself, and the Punjab Code carries the same amendment as a listed instrument.
Two practical consequences follow. A consultancy, agency or clinic turning over eight million rupees is below its threshold, and a lot of content would wrongly have told it otherwise. A small restaurant turning over seven million is above its threshold, and content that quotes a flat ten million would wrongly have told it it was safe. Both errors are expensive in opposite directions.
The classification question sitting underneath this matters too, because "restaurant services" is a defined category rather than a plain English description. A hotel with a dining room, a marriage hall that serves food, a bakery with seating: which threshold each one falls under is a classification question, and it is worth settling with PRA or a consultant rather than assuming. We work through the common cases in who has to integrate with PRA, by business type.
What changed in August 2026
On 10 August 2026 the Punjab Revenue Authority moved against handwritten receipts. Reporting across several independent Pakistani outlets that day described a prohibition on issuing handwritten or informal receipts at restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and marriage halls, with those businesses required to bill through eIMS instead. The reporting also described PRA closing a specific workaround: handing a customer a kitchen order slip, an unpaid bill or a similar document in place of a proper tax receipt.
The direction of travel is not in doubt, and if you run one of those businesses you should act on it. But we are going to be careful about the detail, because the detail is where this story is thin.
What we can stand behind
- The underlying obligation is not new. If your turnover puts you inside rule 3, you were already required to be on eIMS.
- The verification test is objective and available to anyone. A customer, or an inspector, can enter a receipt number on PRA's eIMS page and see whether the transaction exists in PRA's records.
- Punjab law provides for both monetary penalties and the sealing of premises for sales tax on services defaults, and the enforcement reporting in August 2026 referred to both.
What we will not state
Several outlets reported a fine range and a sealing period. We are not repeating those figures here, for a specific reason: none of the reports we found cited a notification or SRO number, and PRA's own notifications listing, read on 22 August 2026, published a single notification for 2026, dated 19 February 2026 and concerned with food delivery platforms as collecting agents. We could not locate the August instrument on PRA's own site.
That does not mean the reporting is wrong. It means we cannot show you the source, and a compliance page that prints a penalty figure it cannot source is exactly the sort of page that this one exists to correct. If the amount of the fine is what is driving your decision, ask PRA directly or ask us and we will ask on your behalf. If whether to comply is the decision, the figure does not change the answer.
Update, 28 September 2026. The penalties in the law itself are now traced to their source. The Punjab Finance Act 2026 raised them from 1 July 2026, and our guide to PRA eIMS penalties sets the statutory figures beside the ones that were reported.
What to do about it this month
- Work out which threshold applies to you, six million for restaurant services or ten million for everything else, and compare it against your actual turnover rather than your instinct.
- If you are above it and not registered, register with PRA. That is the paperwork stage: an NTN prerequisite, then registration with PRA, then issue of a POS ID and access token per outlet.
- If you have credentials but have not gone live, the setup is short and mechanical. Our PRA eIMS setup walkthrough takes it step by step, including the sandbox stage.
- If you also sell goods, or operate outside Punjab, you may be inside FBR's federal regime as well. Read FBR digital invoicing, PRA invoicing, or both before buying software, because buying for one and discovering you needed both is the expensive mistake here.
PraTax is built for eIMS
POS ID, access token, PCT codes, sandbox and live submission, with the QR code on the receipt. You enter the invoice, PraTax talks to PRA.
Open PraTaxLast verified: 22 August 2026. Primary sources read directly for this page: the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary) of 15 July 2024, Notification 109 of 2024, publishing PRA notification No. PRA/Orders.06/2023/441 dated 9 July 2024, which substitutes the threshold in rule 3 of the Punjab Electronic Invoice Monitoring System Rules 2019, made under section 76 of the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act 2012; PRA's public eIMS portal; and PRA's own notifications listing. The August 2026 enforcement drive is described from press reporting, and is identified as such, because no corresponding notification could be located on PRA's site. General information, not tax advice. Confirm your own position with your tax consultant.
Common questions
What is PRA eIMS?
The Electronic Invoice Monitoring System operated by the Punjab Revenue Authority under the Punjab Sales Tax on Services Act 2012. Through it PRA sees each individual service transaction at the moment it happens rather than as a monthly total.
Who does PRA eIMS apply to?
Businesses supplying taxable services in Punjab whose turnover crosses the threshold in rule 3 of the eIMS Rules 2019. There are two thresholds rather than one, which is where most published guidance goes wrong.
Why do so many sources give the wrong threshold?
Because rule 3 originally set a single threshold of ten million rupees or above, and it was later amended by PRA notification. Guidance written before that amendment still quotes the single figure, and the error is checkable against the rule itself.
What changed in August 2026?
On 10 August 2026 the Punjab Revenue Authority moved against handwritten receipts. Reporting across several independent Pakistani outlets that day described a prohibition on issuing handwritten or informal receipts at restaurants, hotels and similar businesses.
Are the reported fines and sealing periods reliable?
We are not repeating those figures, for a specific reason: none of the reports we found cited a notification or SRO number. What is not in doubt is that the underlying obligation is not new, so if your turnover puts you inside rule 3 you were already required to be on eIMS.