The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has issued notices to more than 70 hotels, restaurants and marquees in just two days for failing to issue customer bills through its Electronic Invoice Monitoring System (E-IMS), and fined several outlets that had ignored earlier warnings. The move is part of a province-wide enforcement drive that is rapidly escalating into one of the authority’s most aggressive campaigns against tax evasion in the food sector.
The notices, announced by the PRA at the start of October 2026 through the Punjab government’s press office, were issued by enforcement officers across the province. The authority has not named the businesses or their cities, saying only that “heavy penalties” are being imposed on those involved in fraudulent practices.
Key Takeaways
- PRA issued notices to more than 70 hotels, restaurants and marquees over two days for not issuing bills through the Electronic Invoice Monitoring System.
- Several restaurants that ignored earlier notices were fined, and the chairman has ordered QR codes on all receipts for instant verification.
- Food chains and coffee shops that refuse digital payments now face strict action, as PRA widens its vigilance operations.
What the PRA is targeting
The core problem is simple. When you dine at a restaurant in Punjab, sales tax is added to your bill. That tax is collected from you and is supposed to reach the government. But if the receipt is handwritten, or printed on a till that is not connected to the PRA, there is no independent record that the tax was ever passed on — creating room for businesses to pocket the difference.
The E-IMS system closes that gap. It links a restaurant’s billing machine to the PRA, so every invoice is reported to the tax authority the moment it is printed. The authority can then compare the sales shown on the system with what the business declares in its tax returns. Any restaurant that fails to use the system, or that issues receipts outside it, is breaking the rules.
The latest notices went to three categories of business:
- Hotels that charge sales tax on rooms and dining
- Restaurants, including local and international food chains
- Marquees — the large wedding and event halls common across Punjab, which handle high-value bookings
Several restaurants were fined for continuing to violate the rules after receiving earlier notices, a PRA spokesperson said. Businesses that keep violating despite being served notices will face legal action under tax law.
The digital payments angle
The enforcement is now expanding beyond paper receipts. PRA Chairman Moazzam Iqbal Sipra has announced a new push against food chains and coffee shops that refuse to accept digital payments, saying strict action will be taken against offenders.
The chairman said digital payments must be made only into bank accounts officially declared by the companies, so that records cannot be manipulated. He also directed that the PRA’s Vigilance Wing be strengthened and its digital monitoring expanded to catch tax evasion through digital payment transactions and fake receipts.
Other decisions from the chairman’s recent review meeting of enforcement teams included:
- QR codes made mandatory on all receipts issued through E-IMS, so customers can verify them immediately
- Immediate examination of tax complaints received through social media
- A directive to the Commissioner PRA Lahore Division to intensify field operations further
An escalating campaign, step by step
This latest round of notices did not come out of nowhere. The PRA has been tightening the screws on restaurant billing throughout 2026:
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| August 2026 | PRA banned manual receipts entirely for restaurants, hotels, coffee shops and marriage halls; violations carry fines of Rs 400,000 to Rs 1 million, and repeat offenders can be sealed for up to a month |
| September 2026 | Inspections in Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Multan uncovered cases where sales tax was charged to customers but never recorded in official filings; outlets that had not registered with E-IMS were served notices |
| September 2026 | A dedicated digital monitoring cell was set up to track compliance |
| Early October 2026 | More than 70 notices issued in two days to hotels, restaurants and marquees; fines imposed on repeat violators |
| October 2026 | Crackdown extended to outlets refusing digital payments, with mandatory QR codes on receipts |
The authority has also clarified that businesses with monthly sales of up to Rs 500,000 are required to issue invoices through E-IMS — closing a loophole some smaller outlets may have assumed applied to them.
What the rules now require
If you run a restaurant, hotel, coffee shop or wedding hall in Punjab, the compliance picture is now unambiguous:
- Every customer receipt must be issued through the Electronic Invoice Monitoring System
- Each receipt must carry the business name, address, receipt number and a PRA-issued QR code
- Handwritten slips, kitchen order tokens and unpaid bills cannot be used in place of proper receipts
- Digital payments must go to officially declared company bank accounts
- Computerised, verifiable receipts must be given to customers after every payment
The PRA says protecting the tax paid by consumers is the authority’s foremost responsibility, and that misappropriation of tax collected from customers will not be tolerated.
What this means for diners
For the average restaurant-goer, the message is practical: insist on a proper machine-printed bill with a QR code. If your bill is a handwritten slip or lacks a verifiable receipt, the sales tax you are paying may not be reaching the government — and the establishment can now be penalised for it.
The PRA has also opened a public channel: complaints about irregular billing reported through social media are now being examined immediately by enforcement teams. In short, customers have become part of the monitoring system.
What happens next
The PRA has made clear that enforcement will continue across the province, and that businesses which do not comply after receiving notices will face action under the law. With field operations intensifying in Lahore — the province’s densest restaurant market — more notices and sealing actions are likely in the coming weeks.
One thing to watch: the authority has not yet disclosed the names of the fined businesses, the amounts of the fines, or the cities covered. Until it does, diners cannot know which establishments are in the clear. What is certain is that the era of the handwritten restaurant bill in Punjab is over — and the taxman’s screen is now watching every till.
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Sources: Punjab Revenue Authority statements via the Punjab government’s press office; reporting by Customs Today, PakEra, LHR Times and TechJuice, October 2026.
